Stronger than Bone (20 page)

(Present Day: 237 Cycles into the Light)

Shane and a medium sized man with a long red pony tail rode side by side as they arrived at the Dukes estate. Wearing his customary black clothes and green cloak, Shane was easily spotted from a distance, but the other man was unknown.

Klaus watched the two men approaching from the hay loft.
“Who is that other man?”
he wondered. He stood back from the opening in the shadows and was not visible to the men below as they rode nearer. The man with red hair wore more leather than cloth, and he had the weathered and hard appearance of a warrior. “Is this one of the rebel soldiers? Is he one of their leaders?” Klaus asked no one in a whisper.

“He is indeed,” said a deep voice behind him.

Spinning and assuming a fighter’s crouch, Klaus tried to face the man that snuck up on him. No one was there.

Klaus was not a fighter, but he was no coward either. He would not back down from a fight whether he thought he could win or not. He had only been in one real fight in his life, and he had lost badly, but losing had not made him afraid to fight. It had affirmed his belief that he could stand his ground and not be a coward.

“Who’s there?” called Klaus sharply into the dark hay loft. When no one answered, he stood up straight and waited for another sign that someone was near.
“Did I imagine that?”

Klaus turned back to the window, he stepped forward into the light.

Shane and the other rider were very close now. Shane saw Klaus in the loft and waved him down.

Klaus hurried down to tend to their horses. As he approached the ladder to climb down, he suddenly felt cold, and a spike of fear pushed him to move faster. When he reached the bottom he chided himself for being childish.

As the man passed him, Death nearly touched him. The temptation was there, but he resisted. He knew his desire would not be denied for long. Once he had what he came for, he would take who he pleased. A crooked smile snaked its way across his face as he thought of taking the Duke’s woman in his arms and crushing the life out of her. His breath quickened as he thought of tasting her salty blood until her heart fluttered and stopped.

Death jumped down from the loft and ran behind the stables. He ducked into the shadow filled woods where he would stay until nightfall. Once the darkness fell he would find Shane and have his answers.

Lady Evelynn stood in front of her chamber window and put her hand to her mouth in fear. She saw the creature dash out of the stables and into the woods.
“It is still here!”
When she first witnessed it in her husband’s chambers, she felt that it was evil. Death and darkness oozed from it like a wet cloud of cold smoke. She had not been surprised at all to hear that its origins lay with the rebels and their blood magic.

“Vanessa,” she called. “I need you to do something for me.” Turning to her servant and friend, she whispered, “Go to my brother and tell him that it is happening. The alliance is set, and an attack will come within weeks, not months.”

She took Vanessa’s hands and pressed a purse into them. “Take this and don’t come back,” she implored. “And Vanessa, don’t travel alone either. Take one of the stable hands, perhaps Klaus?” she said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

Vanessa ignored the Lady’s admission that her relationship was not really a secret and shook her head no. There were tears in her eyes. She did not want to leave without Lady Evelynn.
“What will happen to her if I am not here to care for her and to watch out for her?”
she thought.

Lady Evelynn squeezed her hands and said, “Vanessa dear, I am not asking, now go.” She walked to the door and opened it.

Vanessa held the purse close to her bosom and obediently walked out of the room. As she walked to her own room, she began to realize the urgency of her task and quickened her pace. Within the hour she was walking to the stables dragging a chest of her belongings.

“Where are you off to Love?” asked Klaus when he saw her. “Why so sad?” he asked as he lifted her tear stained face and kissed her cheeks.

“Klaus,” she whispered. “We must go to her brother at once. She said we must go and not come back.” As she spoke she looked about to make sure they were not overheard.

“Leaving here has never sounded so good, my Love,” he said and he immediately began saddling two horses. “I can be ready in minutes. All of my things are out here, and I don’t have much.”

“Vanessa,” he said. “This is a dangerous time for us to be traveling. Are you frightened?”

“Not when I’m with you my Love,” she said and she stopped him for a moment and kissed him.

(Present Day: 237 Cycles into the Light)

Curly pulled the second punch. The smaller man was already reeling and would have gone completely through the wall if the hit had come at full force. Instead, only his head went through the wall, and upside down, so that he was looking up at the ceiling of the next room.

“Don’t move,” growled Curly as he straightened his back and rubbed his hip. The familiar ache since Guy had stabbed him was worse than ever today, and his attitude reflected that. The man whose head just knocked a hole in the wall knew that now.

Other than the slow rise and fall of his chest, the man in the wall didn’t move. He had no idea what Curly might do next, and he was terrified thinking of the possibilities. He ran his tongue over his teeth as he lay there, arched backward through the wall.
“One, two, three,”
he counted in his head.
“Three teeth? Only three left?”

Curly looked at his stinging knuckles and saw something yellow and hard, like a dry kernel of corn, poking out of the skin. He plucked it out and tossed it down on the floor, where others like it were scattered. “Damn it. Umm, it looks like I have a few of your teeth over here.”

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Curly looked around the room and sighed. “Okay look, what’s done is done,” and he jerked the man out of the wall by the waist. He stood him up, patted him on the shoulder, and let go. The man immediately fainted and collapsed to the floor. Curly ignored him and continued, “Our tracker is gone, but hell…we’re after a man with a peg leg in the forest. How hard can he be to find? Somebody wake up this weakling or tie him to his horse. It’s time to go.”

He walked out of the house and mounted his horse. He didn’t even wait to see if the men were following. Curly tapped his heels into his horse’s haunches and turned him east toward the tree line. The others would follow or not. At this point he just didn’t care what they did.
“Worthless…every single one of them,”
he thought.

One by one, they caught up to him. Even the guy in the back with only three teeth in his head followed. The truth was, none of them had better prospects on the horizon. This job, and the pay-out promised at the end, was all any of them had to look forward to.

Curly chuckled to himself
. “Worthless, but desperate: that makes them dangerous. At least that’s something.”

Several hours later, they split up. They had lost the trail again and Curly sent them all out in opposite directions to find anything that would get them back on track.

The man with three teeth was walking his horse leisurely through the forest and trying unsuccessfully to whistle, when he came across a peculiar site. A woman was lying on the ground, her head near a stump. He looked around to make sure he was alone before climbing down from his horse and taking a closer look.

“Oh my! She’s beautiful,”
he thought. Leaning close, he reached out and touched her shoulder. “Miss?” he said quietly. “Miss?” he said a little louder.

Timidly, he reached out and lifted her eye lids with one hand. “Oh my,” he said out loud. She was definitely dead. Her eyes were clouded over and now the blue pallor to her skin made death an obvious conclusion.

He stood up and looked around again. Seeing no one, he squatted next to her again and his mouth opened in a three toothed grin. He reached out and opened her blouse with one hand and reached beneath with the other to touch her cold dead skin.

He shivered with excitement and smiled even wider. All of the sudden she moved. “What the hell?” he said as pulled his hands away and stood up.

He waited there for a few moments staring at the corpse, but nothing happened. Smiling again, and shaking his head at the silly way his mind was playing tricks on him, he slid his hand back under her blouse.

Suddenly, icy fingers grasped his arm and he was jerked down on top of her. “What the…?” Sharp pain exploded in his neck and he yelled as something bit him hard. “Help!” he screamed as her cold dead arms wrapped around his torso and held him tightly in place. Cold legs wrapped around his, and although he struggled, he couldn’t get free as her cold teeth tore into his neck and face.

Symbols tattooed on her back beneath her clothes glowed red and hot as fresh blood filled her body and life returned.

A few minutes later, she came to, dazed. Pushing the corpse off of her, Joszette scrambled to her feet and vomited in horror at the bloody mess she was trapped beneath. Her own vomit was bloody and had chunks of meat in it. Trembling with fear, she ran through the woods to her cabin and closed and locked the door.
“Where is Charity?”
she thought as her mind raced.
“What happened? Who was that man? Was that a man? Oh my God! What happened?”
Joszette collapsed on the floor and fainted.

(Present Day: 237 Cycles into the Light)

“What do you mean, they aren’t here?” asked Guy. “You’re telling me that the entire battalion is out on a training exercise? Everyone?”

The Corporal looked uneasy as he considered how much to say. “The camp is under guard, but for the most part, yes.” He could see how disappointed Charity was, and he offered, “They’re due back soon.”

Guy looked at Mateo and Charity and then back at the Corporal. “Is it ok if we stay here until they return? It’s been a long road getting here and I could use the peace of mind these walls offer.”

“Of course!” the Corporal said. He seemed relieved to give them some good news. “I’m sure we can accommodate you sir, at least until your brother, Major Martin, comes back, but you’ll have to turn over any weapons here before you come in.” Each of them carried only a knife, and the corporal said they could keep those. He opened the gate and the three travelers made their way inside.

Turning back toward the gate, and holding the puppy up for emphasis Guy asked, “Corporal, is there a veterinarian or a doctor in the camp?”

“Look for Cunningham. He’s the closest thing we have to a healer around here. I’d check the bath tent or…,” and he paused and shot an embarrassed glance at Charity before saying, “…the whore tents.”

Guy furrowed his brow, but didn’t say anything in retort. He just turned back around and kept walking toward the area the guard had approved for them to set up camp.

Tired and disappointed, but relieved to be off the road, Charity followed the others. The first thing she wanted to do was to look for this Cunningham guy, and then she wanted a bath. She was used to traveling and being out in the wilderness, but she wasn’t a little girl anymore. She smelled bad and she knew it, and for some reason that bothered her. Not only that, but she started bleeding this morning, and although Joszette had told her it would happen soon, it was uncomfortable and she was terrified that someone else would notice. That bothered her even more.

Guy tried to think of something funny to say to cheer her up, but changed his mind when he saw the irritated look on her face.
“Wow, she looks angry,
he thought.

Once they were in the designated area, Mateo tied the pony to a nearby tree and unloaded his bed roll. The three of them stood around for a minute realizing they really had nothing else to unload, and nothing to set up.

“So, Mateo…what do you say we hunt down Cunningham and get this furry little girl some help?” said Guy.

“I’m coming with you,” snapped Charity with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

“Yes, you are…okay then,” said Guy feeling outmatched. Careful not to make eye contact with the hormonal young woman, he swallowed hard and walked straight toward the bath tents.

Mateo smirked a little and fell in behind the other two. As he watched Charity he was reminded of his own children, and he started thinking about what to say to her when he took his leave in the morning. He wore a look of concern as he bobbed up and down, walking with an exaggerated roll heel-to-toe with each step. His arms hung limply at his sides without swinging and his pants were inches too short, making his gait look quite comical to anyone who might be watching.

The flap to one of the bath tents was folded partially open and a pair of sunken, light colored eyes, ringed with heavy dark circles, stared out.

“Who are those dingalings?”
thought the resident expert in horse husbandry, Stephen Cunningham. His job was not only to keep the horses healthy, but to control and influence breeding of the mares set aside for that reason. He had a way with animals and for some reason they remained calm around him, even when he had to be…intrusive. At first he was thrilled to be in charge of such a miraculous part of the Army’s maneuver and logistical support system. That wore off quickly, however, when the soldiers started calling him “Horse Humper” and “Horse Fister.” Now days he spent most of his time getting drunk.

Cunningham stood there naked and dripping wet as he watched the three strangers approach.
“Gimpy, Grumpy, and…hmmmm…Bob,”
he named them with a chuckle. He turned back into the tent and began to dry off. Before putting his clothes on, he took a long pull from a freshly opened bottle. He made a mental note to find out who those strangers were at some point, but chances were he’d forget all about them by the time he finished the bottle.

Someone cleared their throat outside the tent.

“Mr. Cunningham? Are you in there?” asked a man’s voice. “We have a hurt pup here that we need you to take a look at, please.”

Cunningham stood still, head turned to look over his shoulder, but his eyes were focused down on the floor. “I’m the Horse Humper, not the Dog Humper,” he growled and he took another drink.

Guy’s head snapped back involuntarily as if he had been slapped when he heard the man’s response.
“Horse Humper…?”
he thought. Then out loud he said, “Did he just say…?” He turned his head and looked at Mateo as if for help or advice.

Mateo just shrugged and tried not to laugh as he raised his open palms in an “I don’t know” gesture.

Guy looked at Charity, who had pursed her lips and was in the process of walking angrily past him to the tent.

“Um Charity…,” Guy warned.

Throwing the tent flap completely open, Charity marched inside. The naked man startled and tried to quickly step into some trousers. He got one leg partially in and raised the second, but he couldn’t connect with the opening and wound up spilling over onto the floor. He smacked his head pretty good on the edge of the tub and knocked over his bottle in the process. “Gaaaa!” he said as he gingerly felt his head and checked his hand for blood.

“When you get yourself together Mr. Cunningham, my dog is hurt really bad. I don’t care what you do to those poor horses, but if you try to do anything besides help my dog I will cut you!” and she held out her knife to make the point.

“Y-y-yes ma’am,” Cunningham stuttered. “Let me get dressed and I, I, I, I’ll be right out.”

Charity walked out of the tent and closed the flap. She tucked her knife back into her belt and crossed her arms.

Guy couldn’t help it, and a chuckle escaped his lips. Mateo snickered too, but turned his back so she wouldn’t see.

Charity shot Guy a dangerous look, but immediately softened and she ended up smiling as well. She walked over and began to pet Cuddles, who licked her hand gently as she lay in Guy’s arms.