Marysvale (29 page)

Our conversation was interrupted when
two men entered the tower. Like the rest of the town guards, they
were too thin, their clothes were threadbare, and their beards were
scraggly.

“
It’s time,” said Captain
Smith, not bothering to introduce us. He got up and, holding one
end of the rope in his left hand, he took the other and threw it
over the side of the wall. There was nowhere to secure it, so the
three men held the rope and braced for my weight.

Concerned, Jane whispered, “Be
careful,” into my ear.

“
And be quick,” added
Hannah.

I climbed down the rope with ease and
disappeared into the night. I retraced the course we’d taken. The
grass was long and the night was dark. Clouds covered the stars and
moon, which served me just fine—the darker, the better. I used my
special sight to search for a patch of grass held down by the
weight of four packs.

I located them quickly, but retrieving
them wouldn’t be a speedy process. They were too heavy for me to
carry all at once, and without a horse, it would take even longer
to transport them back to the tower. I tied two of the sacks
together, and flung one over my chest and the other over my back.
Because of the weight, running was out of the question; so I walked
quickly, taking advantage of the opportunity to gain a greater
appreciation for beasts of burden.

Evenly spaced torches burned along the
top of the wall, and dim candlelight streamed out of the tower. I
could make out the occupants still waiting for my return. Huffing
and puffing, I arrived at the rope. I tied the two packs to the
end, and gave it a tug to signal they were ready to be pulled up.
As soon as the bags rose off the ground, I turned back into the
night.

Repeating the process, I tied the
remaining sacks together, heaved them up, and then paused. I
debated with myself whether I should bring all of them back.
Finally, deciding it may serve us better on our return journey if
something were left behind, I cut a bag loose, tossed it aside, and
returned to the tower. I secured the remaining food to the line and
gave it a tug. Up it went, disappearing into the tower.

Patiently, I waited for the rope to
lower again so I could climb up…and I waited…and still, I waited.
This is taking far too long,
I thought. I was about to
call up, just as the end of the rope tumbled down and hit my
head.

“
Ouch,” I
muttered.

I grabbed the line and slowly
transferred my weight to it until I felt satisfied that those on
the other end had a sufficient hold and weren’t going to drop me. I
climbed up quickly and, in no time, scurried over the edge and
collapsed onto the floor, panting from the expended
effort.

“
For a moment, I thought you
were going to leave me down there,” I said heavily between
breaths.

“
For a moment, they were,”
exploded Jane, shaking with anger.

“
Really?” I said curiously.
“So why didn’t you?

“
Incredible!” exclaimed
Hannah. “They were going to leave you down there. And you’re more
curious as to why they didn’t than you are angry that they even
thought about it.”

“
Oh.” Then, mustering the
fiercest look I could, I glared at Captain Smith and angrily said,
“Well, sir? I demand an explanation of your actions and an
apology!”

He actually looked ashamed.

Pleased by my accomplishment, I looked
to Hannah for approval. She just rolled her eyes and
sighed.

Smith didn’t notice. “We weren’t really
going to.…”

“
You were so!” snapped Jane
with such passion and authority that all three men
flinched.

Quickly, I scanned their souls and
laughed.

“
What’s so funny?” demanded
Hannah.

“
I think they’re chastised
sufficiently. They weren’t really going to leave me down there.
Sims here was just floating an idea.”

All three men, and Hannah, looked
stunned.

Instantly, I felt sick and cursed
silently.
John, you fool!

“
How’d you know?” asked
Captain Smith.

“
I…overheard your
conversation,” I lied.

“
That’s some
hearing.”

I shrugged as if it was nothing
new.

“
And how’d you know my
name?” asked Sims in a wary voice.

Jane came to the rescue. “I whispered
it to him as he was about to go down.”

They eyed me suspiciously; but after a
moment’s hesitation, they seemed to accept the explanation. Of
course their decision may have been aided by the presence of the
food, as all three men now focused longingly on the packs. Hannah,
however, wasn’t fooled, but said nothing. She gave me a look that
I’m sure meant, “You’re going to explain this when we’re done
here.”

“’
Ow we goin’ to devide it?”
asked the other man slowly. His name was, simply, Stick. It was
likely a nickname; but since we hadn’t been introduced, I wasn’t
going to ask.

“
Tell me if this is
agreeable,” I suggested. “Two packs to split between the three of
you, however you see fit, and we’ll take the third.”

Hannah started to protest, but caught
herself and fell silent.

Good girl,
I thought.
You’re learning.

Stick brightened, ready to jump at the
more than fair offer. It was obviously better than he’d planned on,
and without having to haggle, no less. Sims, however, dampened his
enthusiasm.

“
I wanna see it first. After
all, how da we know he ain’t pullin’ a fast one?”

Captain Smith took one of the sacks
over to the table, unfastened the leather tie, and dumped the
contents out.

I could almost see their mouths
watering at the sight of the dried meat piled on the table. Stick
reached for a piece, but Captain Smith swatted his hand away. The
other packs containing dried fruits and vegetables were also added
to the pile. Some of the food, being more than the table could
handle, spilled onto the floor.

“
As you can plainly see, we
will fulfill our part of the bargain and are not trying to, as you
put it, pull a fast one,” said Jane pointedly. Her meaning was not
lost on Captain Smith.

Sims, who probably always tried to get
as much as he could, wanted to dicker. “Yer offer’s a good startin’
point,” he said greedily.

Hannah and Jane were both fuming; and
Hannah looked about ready to leap across the room and strangle
Sims.

Captain Smith put an end to it before
it could escalate. “That’s enough, Sims; it’s more than
fair.”

“
But we can git more,”
argued Sims. “There’s nottin’ they can do ‘bout it.”

“
We are not
them
!”
growled Captain Smith, his face growing red with anger. “Don’t make
me regret letting you in on this!”

Sims shrank away, holding his hands up
defensively. “Aw right, aw right, no ‘arm in check’n.”

The Captain filled one of the bags full
of food and handed it to Hannah. Using the other packs, and the bag
the rope came in, he divided the remainder of the food equally into
threes. Addressing the two men, he ordered them back to their posts
and told them they could retrieve their share when they had
completed their watch.

After the men had departed, I asked,
“Are you sure you can trust them?”

“
Sims may be a greedy little
bugger, but he’s loyal to me and he’ll keep his mouth
shut.”

“
It’s a rare man that can be
both greedy and trustworthy,” I observed.

“
Sims has proven himself in
the past, and it was my choice. What’s done is done.”

“
Very well,” I nodded. “Then
I trust your judgment.”

W
E
thanked Captain Smith for his help and stole down the
steps into the dark, empty streets of Marysvale. Jane led the way.
Staying in the shadows, we hugged the sides of buildings and homes,
until we came to a back alley. We darted off and, turning this way
and that, we continued to wind our way through the maze.

The town itself intrigued me. Houses
and buildings were sandwiched together and were in a decrepit
state. Some were patched up the best they could with whatever
materials the inhabitants could find: rocks, scraps of wood, even
sticks. Other homes looked like any attempts of upkeep and repair
had long been abandoned. Vacant structures were gutted for any
usable material, leaving a well-scavenged carcass. In its layout
and construction, the town looked to have been, at one point,
modern and more advanced than most. Over time, however, any
attempts of organization had been discarded. Streets ran in every
direction and sometimes even appeared to go in circles.

I felt thoroughly lost and my special
vision was of little use. Occasionally, I could see people in homes
and buildings, but unlike the completely alive and living forest,
the town was made up of materials that had no soul to
read.

Halfway around a corner, Jane
desperately sprung back and pressed herself against the building.
She held her arm out to stop us from advancing.

“
What is it?” I whispered,
while instinctively reaching for weapons that were not
there.

“
Soldiers!”

I crept up next to her and peeked
around the corner of the building. Six soldiers marched our
way.

Ducking back, I asked, “Did they see
you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t
know.”

I took another look.

“
Hurry, we can go another
way,” offered Hannah urgently.

“
They’ve stopped in front of
a house,” I stated curiously.

One of the soldiers bellowed at the top
of his lungs for the occupants to open up. Not bothering to wait,
the other men smashed the door open and stormed in.

By now, Jane and Hannah were peeking
around me to see what was going on.

With my eyes on the remaining soldier,
I asked, “What are they doing?”

“
Anything they want to,”
replied Jane somberly.

A moment later, screams and yells
echoed from the house as the soldiers emerged, dragging a man out
by his arms. He appeared to be in his late thirties and was still
dressed in a worn nightshirt.

A baby in the house started to
cry.

“
What am I being charged
with?” demanded the man.

The soldier, who had stood outside,
replied maliciously, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Without warning, he threw a punch into
the prisoner’s gut. The man doubled over.

His wife rushed out, clutched the
soldier’s coat and begged for leniency on her husband’s behalf. The
soldier slapped her across the face, and she fell back.

“
Get inside,” he demanded.
“Unless you wish to share your miserable husband’s
fate.”

The man pleaded for her to go back in;
but she remained on her knees, begging the soldiers for
sympathy—panic and despair filling her voice, and tears streaming
down her cheeks.

Red faced and angry, the lead soldier
unfastened his belt, withdrew it, and raised it over his head,
ready to whip the woman.

A girl rushed out of the home. “Please
sir, spare her.”

She wrapped her arms around her mother
and looked up at the soldier, half bracing for his punishment to be
administered.

He paused, and lowered his belt. “Only
because I’m feeling generous.” He shooed them away with his hand
and added, “Remove her before my graciousness tires.”

The girl dragged her still crying
mother back into the house.

At the same time, a very young boy ran
out and handed a pair of shoes to his father.

His father thanked him and tried to
give a reassuring smile to his son.

The leader of the soldiers slapped the
shoes out of his hands and then barked an order for chains to be
fastened to the man’s wrists. The small group set off into the cold
night with the barefoot man wearing only his nightshirt.