Escaped Escapades
Wow, what a mess this was.
As Lalli had planned, the attacking Arapaho had created (more than) enough of a diversion for Sigrun and the others to escape, but boy, howdy, did it seem more like blowing the dam to stop the town below burning up: technically it worked, but it left you with even more problems than before.
Tuuri, Reynir and Sigrun had managed to get to their wagon at last, and when Sigrun opened up with the Gatling (no blanks this time; just live rounds, thank you), the Arapaho finally decided enough was enough. About half their number were left dead or dying in the village, but they’d accounted for most of the bushwhackers in the process, and the balance decided to follow the Arapaho’s example once the wagon came into play.
All that remained was dealing with the villagers, which Sigrun intended to do in no uncertain terms and in very short order.
*
“Do we really have so few enemies left that you needed to make more?” Mikkel asked Sigrun as the wagon bore them off towards their next adventure.
“You’d rather I’d ended ‘em, rather than leaving ‘em to the mercy of the other folk they betrayed?” Sigrun looked at Mikkel knowingly. “I thought not. ‘Sides, it seems to me they made us their enemies, rather than t’other way ‘round.” Her drawl always deepened when she got angry, and this was no exception. She deliberately tried to calm herself down as Mikkel mulled her speechifying over, but it was hard: of all offenses, she counted treachery as about the worst.
“I doubt they’ll see it that way, but you’re still right.” Mikkel still looked unhappy.
“Well, the way I see it, we drove off the bushwhackers once and for all, ditto the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] Arapaho, and we got our fee, so I don’t see what’s not to like about it.”
“It doesn’t set well with me, that’s all.”
“Then go try to pry something out of Lalli; or better yet, get Reynir a-Seeing.”
“We shouldn’t use those two like a crutch,” Mikkel objected.
“Then you’ll have to do like I do: live with it. There’s a whole world of things that don’t sit right with me, but I can’t change ‘em, so I have to live with ‘em.”
*
“Is everything ready, boy?” The hard voice hinted it had better.
The hired gun had seen the worst of the War’s fighting, from the Wilderness through the Crater and even Cold Harbor, before he’d decided there was no point to it any more. He hadn’t met his employer until after being hired on; if he had, nothing would have prevailed upon him to work for someone who, just by his presence, brought back all those memories. But he had hired on, and no one left his employer’s pay while still living.
Some days, even that terrible option seemed preferable to staying on.
The man’s lips had just parted to repeat his question when the hired gun finally answered. “As far as I have been able to arrange it, yes, sir.” At the man’s look, the hired gun protested, “I can’t make weather to order, y’know? We need a few more days of good weather to get it done for certain sure.”
“Oh, very well. It will wait until then.” A curt gesture dismissed the hired gun. “She will certainly wait until then.” The single most frightening smile the hired gun had ever had the mischance to witness split his employer’s face.
*
Reynir could see again, so he wasn’t wasting any more time with his eyes closed than he had to. He was busily devouring one of Emil’s fancy picture books (“Modern Breech-loaders: Sporting and Military”) when the others came in. They were bearing whiskey.
Part of Reynir didn’t want the visions; part of him embraced them; and yet another part really wanted the whiskey. That last was the most frightening aspect of it, and why he resisted doing this too often. He’d had a dipsomaniac uncle, and wanted no part of it.
When he related all this to his comrades, not without some trepidation, they were all surprised when Lalli spoke in his favor. “Future’s hard to See, and scary besides. Not surprised he needs a binge to See it. Not surprised he doesn’t wanna get to be a sot. Sots are worthless ‘less you can dry ‘em out. Shouldn’t press him to be a sot from Seeing, so no Seeing ‘less it’s really needed.” Lalli then turned to Reynir. “Gotta really bad feeling about tomorrow. Like before we got caught. Need you to See tonight. Won’t ask again for a good long while.”
Well, then. Reynir took the bottle...
