by North, Geoff
A bit of cold blood leaked between her eyes and down the side of her nose. Jenny wiped it away before it could hit her lips. Her mouth began to water. Edna grabbed the arm away from her grand-father and chewed ravenously on the fingers.
“It won’t be much longer now,” Lothair whispered. A scream erupted from one of the homes in the distance. It sounded as if Ivan had found his first uncooperative resident. “Soon you will feed like the rest. It’s who you are now…one of us.”
Chapter 43
Lawson heard a woman scream. He turned back towards the town of Rudd and listened some more. He was standing at the narrow opening between boulders that led into the pit. His hands were tied behind his back and Lode’s monster hand had a firm grip around his bicep.
“You hear that? Sounded like a woman screaming.”
Lode pulled at him. “There’s lots of screams coming from the pit—fighters, men and women up in the rocks.” As if on cue another chorus of shouts and cheering sounded from the other side of the rocks. “You’ve competed here before. Has your old mind become too feeble to remember what it was like?”
“No, it’s not that.” Lawson stood his ground and waited for the spectator howls to die down. His steely grey eyes focused in on the line of dark buildings a mile away. The heat of the day made them shimmer—the black strip of moat encircling the town rippled like a writhing snake. “I heard something back that way…a woman screaming.”
“Maybe you did, so what? Not all of Rudd’s residents came to the Rites. Perhaps someone’s being raped, or a husband is teaching his wife a lesson. What do you care?”
“That’s exactly why I care.” He tried twisting his arm free but Lode didn’t shift an inch. “Most of Rudd’s inside this gawdamn ring of rocks. The town’s been left unguarded—you don’t know what I seen!”
“The grey-skinned people living under the ground? Shit, Lawman—is that how you’re going to try and get out of what you got coming? You’re a cheat, but I never took you for a coward.” He pulled Lawson down the sandy trail. The lawman’s protests were drowned out by the sound of the crowd clambered inside.
Ugly, leering faces closed in. Men with rotten teeth bellowed in his face with the stink of bad liquor on their breath. Woman spat on him, and dirty children kicked at his ankles and shins. Lawson recognized some of the people; citizens of Burn he’d once looked over and sworn to protect. None of them offered him any support now. They spat, slapped, and kicked with all the rest.
Lode leaned over and yelled in his ear. “We could’ve come sooner—it would’ve been safer to deliver you here before all these wonderful folks showed up.” A wad of snot struck Lode’s nose and the giant punched its deliverer in the face. “But I wanted you to experience the hate of the crowd up close. They don’t like you, Lawman. They’re going to enjoy seeing your old body crushed in the dirt.”
He saw Trot. Tears were leaking down the man’s face and his bottom lip was quivering. He held out his bandaged hands as the lawman was led by. Lawson strained at the ropes holding him. He couldn’t even shake hands goodbye. Cobe and Willem’s faces appeared next. They weren’t crying, but they didn’t look at all happy to be where they were. My fault they’re seeing this. I should’ve dragged them back to Burn when they ran away. I could’ve protected them better. Cobe nodded his head. The boy would keep his promise. He would run north with the others. Their chances weren’t good, but it was a better chance at life than they would receive left in Rudd after Lawson was dead. The lawman nodded back.
A dead body was being pulled out of the pit. The victor was still limping around in the dirt, pumping his fists in the air triumphantly. It took Lawson a moment longer to recognize him. He was a boy not much older than Cobe called Daevid. His parents had died from the coughing sickness two years earlier, and no one had taken the boy in since. He was coated from head to foot in blood. Maybe now the folks back in Burn would notice him, Lawson thought sadly.
The sound of the crowd had become deafening. They weren’t yelling for Daevid. They were screaming and cheering for the main event. Lawson felt the ropes being cut away behind him. Lode smacked him on the shoulder and shook him. “This is where we part ways, Lawman.”
“I’ll see you in hell, Lode.”
Lode smiled. “I don’t believe in hell. It’s just another silly story from one of those stupid books people used to read a long time ago.” It was the last smile Lawson would ever see, all grey-gummed and vicious. Maybe Lode was right. Maybe hell wasn’t a place recorded on the pages of ancient paper. Maybe it was in a place closer by—lurking in cold, sorry men’s hearts when their time was near.
A warm hand touched his arm. Lawson turned and saw Sara. Her fingers went up to his wrinkled cheeks and held him. “You old fool.”
Lawson took one of her hands and kissed the back of it. “Take care of our girl.”
He wanted to hold her one last time. He wanted to say that he loved her and how sorry he was. Lode tore Lawson away and threw him into the pit.
Yaven was standing there with him when he got back to his feet.
“People!” His arms were in the air, his hands pulling down the air to quiet the hundreds gathered. The shouting and swearing died away to a low rumble. “People…This is why we have come here on this day. This is what the Rites are all about. This man has been chosen to be the ultimate representative of his town. This lying, cheating, murdering individual is Burn’s best.”
Total silence.
“And now…I give you the representative of Rudd.”
A big man strode into the pit. He was shorter than Lawson but much heavier. His thick arms and wide chest were laden with heavy muscle. The lawman looked up from the powerful build, past his black beard and into his eyes. He knew the man.
Yaven introduced him. “I give you Jakob. A new resident of our town, and an eager volunteer.”
Lawson saw from the look Jakob gave Yaven that he hadn’t volunteered for this. The man and his family had simply been looking for a place to live. They had come from some shit-hole out west to be with Jakob’s sister. Poor bastard, Lawson thought. What a way to find a new home. He saw the man’s wife and daughter standing a ways behind him in the first line of spectators. Anna looked withdrawn and dead. Angel—the precious girl they had been trying to marry off—still looked ugly.
Yaven started up again. “Your Rites, people…For Rudd or for Burn…For Burn or for Rudd.” Six hundred voices chanted the words back. Yaven left the pit.
Lawson and Jakob approached one another.
“Doesn’t look like you found much out west,” the younger man said.
“Yer new start in Rudd don’t look much better.”
Jakob shrugged. “It would’ve been better if we arrived a week or two later. I didn’t want no part in this.”
“Me neither.”
The men started circling. The crowd roared. Lawson saw Willem from the corner of his eye turn his face into his brother’s chest. Cobe held him close.
Jakob yelled to be heard. “I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to kill you, but I will. I have family.” The man knew Lawson was hurting and busted up inside. It wasn’t hard to tell.
“I know.” The lawman saw that look in Jakob’s face—the twitch all things made just before pouncing. Lawson held up his palms in a stopping gesture. “Don’t do it…I quit.”
Chapter 44
Cobe couldn’t believe his eyes. The lawman was surrendering. Was that even allowed in the Rites? Willem looked up at him questioningly and then turned in his brother’s arms to see Lawson’s raised up in the air.
The lawman yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. “As is my right, I hereby forfeit in the name of Burn…I forfeit for my town…I forfeit for its residents…and I forfeit as its chosen final representative.”
Cobe couldn’t imagine the crowd any quieter. Not a single curse was uttered. No one said a word. No one moved.
Finally Trot whispered. “This can’t be happening. The lawman ain’
t no coward…is he?”
Cobe put a finger to his lips to silence him as Yaven walked back out towards the two men. The old man stared at Lawson with contempt. “It has never been done. No one has ever forfeited the Rites.”
“But it’s in the rules.”
“It is in the rules,” Yaven confirmed. “And the rules also state any man that forfeits must still pay with his life.” Rudd’s town leader produced a knife from his belt and held it out to the lawman. “By his own hand.”
Lawson took the knife and threw it in the dirt. “It don’t have to be like this…There’s another way.”
Yaven slapped him across the face. “You fucking coward. You’ve forfeited!”
“I have… Or I’ll still fight this man standing before me…under one condition.”
“You aren’t in any position to make demands. Either kill yourself or fight. Which is it?”
Lawson leaned down into the small man’s face and whispered. “I won’t fight unless you agree to my terms. The people here don’t understand what the fuck’s goin’ on. They want to see a show. How they gonna feel about the Rites—how they gonna look at you when they go home empty-handed?”
Yaven choked back his rage. “What one condition?”
“I have friends…and family here in Rudd.” Lode was coming towards them. “Seventy-two hours of safety. I want the five of them given a three day head start out of Rudd. Agree to that and I’ll give you a gawdamn Rites the folks here ain’t likely to forget.”
Lode pushed between the two. “I heard that. There is no fucking way I’m going to allow the others to leave this town. Those boys are freaks—their parents were sinners. They’ll swing back in Burn, or I’ll cut them down right here.”
Yaven craned his head back to make eye contact with the giant. “You’re the biggest bastard I’ve ever seen, but if you try and hurt anyone gathered here, I’ll see you hacked down to size quickly enough. The Lawman has twisted the rules but he hasn’t broken them. He has his seventy-hours.”
Lode enveloped the man completely in his shadow. His fists—each the size of Yaven’s head—clenched at his sides. Yaven didn’t back down. Lawson understood how this tiny man could’ve been a Rites champion at one time.
“One day. Twenty-four hours,” Lode said.
Yaven compromised. “Forty-eight hours.”
Lawson almost grinned. A Rites champion and a politician. He was the perfect town leader. “What’ll it be, Lode? You agree to the two days, or am I gonna have to spill my own guts?”
The giant sighed and his great shoulders slumped. “I’ll remain in Rudd for two days. Your friends had better run fast and far, Lawman. I won’t rest until they’re all dead.” He thumped back out of the pit and took his place amongst the restless audience.
Yaven explained things to the crowd and they cheered. None of them cared about the details—they were here to see a fight to the death. Jakob called out to the elder leader as he started away. “Wait! I have a condition as well!”
Yaven looked to the sky and prayed a lightning bolt would strike him dead. “What?”
Jakob pointed to his family. “I’ll only fight if you promise to marry my daughter off.”
The old man frowned when he caught sight of Angel. “Men have died for me over the years…but there are some things I can’t expect them to do.” Yaven exited the pit leaving Jakob and Lawson squaring off once again.
“Fuck him,” Jakob spat.
“Better than yer daughter,” the lawman replied. He didn’t want to insult the man’s kin, but Lawson had to goad him into recklessness. He needed to get him riled up enough to swing with his fists instead of thinking with his brains. It worked. Jakob charged face first like an enraged roller, and Lawson stepped to the side. He put all of his strength into a punch that found the man’s bearded jaw. It was a thick jaw, but Lawson felt it break anyway along with two or three of his knuckles. Jakob slid into the dirt and the lawman drove his knee into the small of the heavier man’s back. Jakob grunted and rolled, throwing Lawson off balance.
They were face to face again moments later. Jakob was still furious, but he’d learned his lesson. There would be no more mindless charges. Lawson had done more damage to his hand than he first thought. The index and middle fingers were broken on his left hand and already growing numb. He tried shaking some life back into them, and Jakob swung in on the lawman’s right side. Lawson stepped back, but his opponent’s elbow re-broke his nose on the follow through. His eyes immediately watered and Jakob’s fist pounded the shattered bridge even further back into his face.
Another punch to his stomach doubled the lawman over. He wretched and all that came out were teeth and blood. Jakob two-armed him over the back and Lawson collapsed into the dirt. Fingers took hold in his hair and Jakob slammed his face against the ground. He lifted his head back up and Lawson thought he caught a glimpse of Sara. His face met the earth again. Jakob pounded it into the blood-soaked soil over and over. The lawman couldn’t breathe.
Hell of a way to go. Choking on mud and blood.
Jakob pulled his head back further. He was going to give Lawson’s face one final, three-foot drive into the dirt. It gave the lawman just enough time to do two things; first—his jaw dropped open allowing him to take a deep breath. Second—he worked his right arm free. He reached back, hoping to nail Jakob’s eyeball with his thumb. It found the man’s beard instead.
Good enough.
He took hold and yanked. Jakob squealed and tried to pull away. Lawson kept his grip and moved back with him. He was no longer pinned to the ground. The lawman gasped for more air and rolled away, trying to put some distance between him and those powerful arms.
Jakob was back on his feet first. It took what felt like an eternity for Lawson to do the same thing. Distance, the lawman thought. He’s younger and stronger than me. He’s faster and none of his bones are busted. Distance is all I got left.
Jakob stepped in and swung. Lawson swayed away from his fist. He had the height to avoid most of the shorter man’s blows, and he had the reach with his remaining good arm to still do some damage. He lashed out and hit him square in the forehead. Jakob appeared momentarily stunned and Lawson struck again, fracturing the other side of his jaw. He jabbed again, and the lawman felt his nose break with grim satisfaction. Jakob staggered forward and Lawson kicked him in the testicles.
It was a dirty, mean trick the lawman had used just the day before, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind. They were chanting his name. Lawson! Lawson! Lawson! Even the folks of Rudd had taken a liking to him and his too stubborn or too stupid to die persistence. Jakob was on his back writhing with both hands clamped over his swelling balls. The lawman sat on top of him and went to work on his face some more. He kept punching until the big man underneath him stopped squirming altogether. Lawson leaned down to see if he was unconscious or dead. A bit of blood bubbled from one nostril. Jakob was still breathing.
Lawson climbed off of him and faced the crowd where Yaven was standing. “He’s had enough. It’s done.”
“It’s done when one of you is dead,” the town leader yelled.
“He has a wife and daughter. He came here to begin a new life. What right do I got to take it all away from him?”
“We made a deal, Lawman.”
Lawson tried wiping some of Jakob’s blood away on his shirt but couldn’t find a clean enough spot to begin. He finally gave up on the idea. “That we did. You give my people two days away from this place and I’ll fight someone else—someone nobody gives two shits about. Give me a man with no family and no need for livin’.”
Sara tried running out to him, but Lode pushed her back into the crowd. “I told you! The lawman’s a gawdamn cheater!” He picked Lawson up by the front of his shirt until the toes of his boots no longer touched the ground and shook him. “You want to fight someone nobody gives a fuck about?—Then fight me.”
Yaven appeared intrigued. “What are you suggesting?”
Lode dr
opped Lawson into the dirt. He spun around and addressed everyone in the pit. “I will fight for Rudd! I will become a citizen of your town and fight for you every year! I will be your champion!”
The people didn’t know what to make of his proposal. Some clapped and wailed for it to happen, others conferred whether such a thing could be done.
“Gawdamn traitor!” Trot yelled. Cobe poked him in the side and told him to keep his dumb mouth shut.
Yaven decided for them all. “Works for me… From this day forward you are a citizen of Rudd. Now kill that asshole so we can all go home.”
Lode picked the three-hundred pound Jakob up from the ground as if he weighed no more than a half-sack of potatoes and deposited him in front of his distraught wife. “Thank you, lawman. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better resolution to our differences if I’d tried.” He stomped back towards Lawson still sitting in the mud.
Willem tore free of Cobe’s arms and ran into the pit. He kicked at Lode’s shins. “Big, gawdamn, mutant fu—” Lode struck the boy down before he could finish. Cobe jumped over his brother’s unconscious form and sunk his teeth into the giant’s thigh.
Lode laughed and pulled him away. “Send them all in. Bring me the stupid Trot and the lawman’s woman. I’ll throttle the life from all of them!” He forced Cobe to the dirt and placed a heel into his throat.
“Lode.”
He turned his head and the lawman was standing before him. Lawson threw a handful of sand into his eyes, and Lode staggered back. He clawed at his eyes and more dirt was shoved into his mouth. Lawson drove his fist into Lode’s throat and the man dropped to one knee. The crowd roared but their cheers were short-lived. Rudd’s newest citizen took hold of Lawson’s wrist and twisted. Bone started to crack. Lawson tried one last swing with his other arm and Lode caught it. He forced the lawman down to his knees and continued breaking limbs.
“I’ve proven what a cheating old bastard you are.” Lode smacked his forehead into Lawson’s nose. The lawman’s head snapped back but he didn’t feel any pain. Too much had already been bust in his face. “It’ll be a pleasure catching up to those boys in two days.” He struck out with his skull again and shattered Lawson’s cheekbone. “When I’m done with them, I’ll rape your woman.” Something snapped in the lawman’s jaw as Lode hit him again. The lawman felt no more pain, and he heard no words. His head drooped down into his chest.