Chapter 9

It's funny how the sounds of the night on Chaos were as acceptable to my brain as those of Earth. You would think they would be different somehow and that would have kept me awake. They didn't; what kept me awake was the thought of cutting my tongue out. I understand pain. The truth is that yes, it lets you know you're alive, but it damn well hurts too.

The second problem with my getting any rest was in the form of Mandy. She held me on the pedestal that I was use to women being on. There were no rock stars on Chaos. The life of a farmer or merchant was fine but she had a Hero. I was the biggest thing since sliced bread, if they had sliced bread.

The rules were crystal clear on any physical relationship with her. Time worked at different speeds between Chaos and Earth. She was a child in my mind and I was a man and not a damn bit of that mattered to her. So she was sleeping on the bed, with me looking out the window wondering how I could have two women who loved me that I couldn't be with, and the cheating backstabbing one I was stuck with on Earth.

False dawn was approaching and the farm was coming to life. These would be the quiet times before the storm. This was the time to convey my ideas in full before I went mute. I expected a fight as I told them my plan. It would be a leap of faith on their part to believe that my tongue would be restored.

I rubbed my hands over my face and put the palms to my eyes, turning them, trying to make sense of three different worlds. Mandy awoke as I looked out the window and came over behind me wrapping her arms around me as I stood there staring out the window.

The house started to come alive as we heard people moving about. It was a farm and things needed to be done before breakfast was served. I wasn't a farmer but the rest of them were so I got up and went with Mandy. It was a well-oiled machine with everyone going and doing what needed to be done. Sissy was responsible for setting the table, and since I was sitting there while she did it, we started to talk.

"So is the Damsel you're going to rescue as pretty as Vanessa?"

"She is very pretty from the picture I have seen of her."

"What's a picture?"

"A small painting," I replied.

"Oh," she said.

"So will you bring her back here with you?"

"I don't know. It depends"

"Why does it depend?"

"Well if she is hurt or I am, like with the crossbow bolt in my shoulder, then I won't come back because I'll need to get medical attention."

"So Glenn might shoot her or you like before?"

"I don't think he will, but we could be hurt other ways and need to get help."

"You go to that Crisscross roads and they can fix it all better?"

"It's called Crossroads and how do you know about it and the healing there?"

"I heard Chester telling Mama when they came back from taking you to the bank."

"That was a longtime ago."

"I know but I was worried so I remember they said you would be fine. That made me happy."

"Well you have to keep that a secret."

"I know, Chester said he would tell us, but only if we kept it secret. I won't tell no one."

"That's good to know."

"It's not a secret how Mandy feels about you," she said as Mandy was coming to the table with a platter of food.

Mandy didn't say anything but just smiled and went to go get something else. "Cathy smiles at Glenn like that too," Sissy said.

Well now I had independent confirmation of what I already knew. The others came in and I helped by taking dishes of food from their hands to the table. They all washed up and we sat down to eat.

When we were done, Chester, Glenn, Mandy, and I went out to the barn. There was a large assortment of weapons laid out there. I saw my old leather armor. There was a new top to replace the one that had my blood soaked into it from the shoulder wound. When we got over to them I stopped and looked them over. Someone had been very busy accumulating some well-made and nasty weapons.

I picked up what looked like a bolo. A set of three long braided leather pieces with weighted balls attached. In theory it could stop a horse if thrown at its legs or, I was certain by the weight of the balls, break a man's neck if thrown there.

There was an assortment of knives and swords of varying lengths and design, pikes and spears, archery bows and crossbows. They had been very busy indeed.

"Who wants to go first?" I asked no one in particular.

Glenn walked up and took the bow. He shot three arrows across the barn onto a target about thirty feet away. Then he picked up the crossbow and did the same. Mandy followed Glenn and almost duplicated his feat. Chester took the bolo and wound it up and tossed it at a wood post twenty feet away. It wrapped tight around it and then stopped with a thump as the balls came into play.

We could kill at a distance which was always a plus. Now what could we do up close was what I needed to know. I went over and put my old armor on while I watched Glenn and Chester do the same. Mandy was a woman and in her role seeing her in armor would cause some curiosity and we would lose the benefit of surprise.

There were some sparing sticks and I took turns with both of them, both with them attacking and defending. The forms that John had shown me gave me an added edge. I already had one just because of my years of training, but I could see where a fighter who was better versed with a sword would be a challenge to my all-out-attack style.

I pulled my strikes and was surprised when Glenn did get a hit in. I had dropped my defense when he fell and didn't watch close enough. It would have been a very painful wound if we had been using real weapons. We had worked up a sweat and Mandy came over with a pail of water and a ladle. She no more than put it down before she had a dagger at my throat.

There was nothing to do but surrender. I had let my guard down and it would have been fatal this time. Chester had trained them well and they were showing me just how much they had followed his tutelage. I looked over and saw him smiling.

I had simply underestimated what they could do because they were from Chaos and only had primitive weapons. I would be just as dead with them being primitive or not. I was learning that they were not the locals I had gone up against before. Three years of dedicated study had made them deadly.

"And other surprises?" I asked.

Chester grinned and looked over towards a corner in the barn. I followed his glance and there was a wagon that looked like a medicine wagon from those old western movies.

"So what is that?"

"It's a war wagon?" he said with a slight cackle in his voice.

"Hey, that is the same cackle I heard from Fred at the livery stable."

"That's how you know they are friends. The response when you ask about it is Stumpy."

"That's from some old John Wayne movie."

"Rio Lobo to be exact; he was the jailer."

"Ah, Okay, so what is with the war wagon?"

"Another idea from the movies I'm afraid." Mandy and Glenn were looking at us, not understanding what we were talking about. I was sure Chester had mentioned it but it likely didn't mean much without an example.

"I don't see a turret or the machine gun," I said.

"Nope, but come on over and take a look at it." We walked over and as we got closer I could see where there were many additions to make it a rolling fort.

"So tell me what you did."

"Well it is a prairie schooner in some ways and a fortress in others. I gave it wide wheels to help keep it from getting stuck. The roof and the under carriage are wood covered in metal strips to keep fire out. The sides are wood but I cut a number of ports where you can fire from. There are a couple of ways to get out that are hidden."

"So how are we going to go around in it without attracting much attention?" I asked.

"Well I was thinking just the opposite. If we have a medicine show, sell some basic remedies, and have some kind of show to whoop up the crowd, we should be able to just keep going where we want."

I walked around thinking about it. It was do-able; a one-armed man selling the remedy, a woman there to help with the crowd, and Glenn as his apprentice. Me being the mute he took in to help was just a bonus. It gave us cover to move freely and would be seen more as an amusement than as a threat.

"I like the idea. Janice told me about many different plants that we could make either a remedy from or a poison out of."

"Who is Janice," Mandy asked.

"She is my Caretaker. The one who tells me about the missions and helps me when I return from them," There was more to it than that but I didn't want to open that can of worms at this point. She didn't ask anything more.

I wasn't worried about their ability to fight. We would be using deception to aide us, and strike like lightning when we needed to. I wanted to have a chain mail shirt though. Placing it inside the leather armor was the best.

"Do you remember the Clint Eastwood movie where he put that metal plate under his poncho?"

"'For a Few Dollars More'?" Chester said.

"That's it. I want to have one of those under the leather, but I want it to be chain mail."

"That is going to be heavy," Glenn said.

"I have been training with it. I might need to have something under that to keep it from scratching me. But it is hard to cut or poke a blade through it."

"It's going to be hot to wear it all the time."

"Discomfort or death," I said.

"Should we all have one?" Mandy asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to risk you getting hurt but our element of surprise is you not looking like a threat."

"So the three of you should have them then?" She asked.

"I think that is best. But it is going to cost a lot and take some time to get made," I said.

"We could find the shirts as we traveled and then put them together in the wagon as we traveled." Chester said.

"We need to work out the basics of how we are going to do all of this before we cut out my tongue." Both Mandy and Glenn took a deep gasp at that.

"Why are we cutting out your tongue?" she asked.

"Chester needs to lead this mission. His having only one arm would have them looking at me as the leader of it. But if I am a mute, the focus is not on me as the threat. Then we have an advantage."

"But you will never be able to talk again," Glenn said.

"Only until I get back to Crossroads. They have a healing chamber that will fix it just like it will Chester's arm."

"How can that be?" Mandy asked.

"As long as you're not dead, it will restore you to whole." I replied.

"But that doesn't make sense. You can't just grow a new arm or tongue," Glenn said.

"It is how this works." I didn't want to tell them this was a game and get into the Powers that Be.

"But you will grow back a tongue?" Mandy said, still in disbelief.

"Yes, that is what I understand."

"But what if you die?" She asked.

"Dead is dead and if I have a tongue or not that really doesn't matter then."

"But it is going to hurt," Glenn added.

"Yes and I am not looking forward to that but what has to be done, has to be done. I'll live with the pain. I won't like it but I'll do it to rescue her."

"What would happen to her if you didn't rescue her?" Mandy asked.

"She has been a prisoner for over five seasons. Janice thinks they will kill her soon."

"I heard about her and that is why I did all of this. I was going to ask the two of you to go with me if Willy didn't return soon." They both turned to Chester and looked at him with mouths opened.

"It is that serious," I added.

"When do we leave?" Glenn asked.

"The sooner the better. As soon as everything is ready, and we have finished what we need to do here," I said.

"Finished what we need to do?" Glenn asked

Chester answered. "I need to have your dad help me with his tongue."

Mandy looked at me and left the barn. Glenn looked over and then down at the ground. Hell, I didn't want to think about it but it had to be done.

"When do you want to do it?" Chester asked.

"I am going to need to be..." and I never finished the sentence.

I came to at some point later. I was lying in bed and my head was pounding. Mandy was sitting next to me, her eyes were red from crying no doubt. She put a cold rag on my forehead. My mouth was dry but I felt it was full of something. I spit it out and went to ask for water and a grunt came out.

Mandy took the rag I had spat out and put it in the bowl next to her and then back in my mouth. The coolness felt good. My mouth throbbed and I could not feel the rag with my tongue. It was obvious that it was gone.

"You have been asleep for two days Willy," Mandy said.

I nodded my understanding.

"Chester didn't want you to worry over it."

I nodded again.

"Are you mad at him?" She looked deep into my eyes.

I nodded my head no. I had thought of this and Chester took some compassion and just did what I wanted without me having to worry about it for all the days until it happened.

"This will help with the pain," and she put a spoon with something in it to my mouth. It soaked into the rag and I went slowly back to sleep.

I don't know when I woke again but it was light. Sissy was there now holding my hand.

"Hello Willy," she said.

I nodded to her and smiled.

"Are you mad at Chester for doing that?"

I nodded my head no.

"Daddy had to help him. You won't hurt them for doing what you wanted, will you?"

I nodded my head no.

"Would you like some water?"

I nodded my head yes. She pulled the rag out and put a little cup to my mouth. I wanted to grab it and drink it all but I let her pour just small amounts in.

"I'm sorry they did that to you, but Chester said you wanted to have it done so you could rescue the Damsel."

"Cathy thinks you're crazy; I heard her and Glenn fighting about it. Said you are going to get him killed and her baby won't have a Daddy."

I nodded my head no.

"You going to protect him too, aren't you?"

I nodded my head yes.

"Good, I have to get Chester. He wanted to talk to you when you woke up again."

It had really happened. I knew I needed to do it but the reality of having my tongue cut out was difficult to accept. Was I pissed at Chester for doing it without telling me? I thought about that as he was coming to the room. It was a lot less stressful than worrying about it.

"Hello Willy," Chester said as he entered the room.

I nodded at him.

"Are you all right?"

I lifted my hand and made the Okay sign.

"Would you like to use the facilities?"

I was sure I wanted to do that so I nodded my head fast enough that my head hurt a little. He helped me up and walked me out to them.

"If you want to know what we did, I will tell you; if you would rather not, I won't." I nodded my head no.

He took me into the kitchen and I sat down. I smelled and even I could tell it. Cathy brought some light type of broth over and I took a small amount of it. Martha brought out a glass of watered wine and I took small drinks of that. The broth made the place where my tongue had been smart. So I let it cool as I drank a little more.

"If you're hurting still, I have some medicine here we can use to help," Martha said.

I looked up at here and made the scrubbing motion on my skin. "You can bathe in the house or out in the creek a ways from here."

I thought about it and motioned to the outside. I wasn't used to just lying around even if I was recovering. It turned into a male bonding ritual as Martha decided that a bath in the creek for all the men wasn't such a bad idea, and what Martha thought in her house was quickly the rule.

Plus, no doubt, she wanted to make sure of my safety. So after lunch, she made sure the four of us were equipped with the necessary items and pushed out the door. The wagon was out there and the team hooked up to it. I got to sit next to Glenn as he drove. We could have walked but what the hell.

The soap was not Ivory, and it damn well burned your skin clean at times. But I did feel much better after that, and we changed into the new clothes that Martha had sent. Rather than head right back to the house, we sat under a tree and Chester explained what had been happening the last few days.

Using my shirt, they had scoured the nearby towns and found a chain mail shirt. When Mandy wasn't watching me, she was in the barn working on making it as I had suggested. They had been adding hiding places for the weapons that were easily accessible. I looked over at the wagon and saw the pikes now had little flags hanging from them. They were decorations that could be used to turn deadly at a moments notice.

Martha had been tasked with making the medicines for this show as well as the poisons, while Cathy was making sure that all the traveling necessities and food were inside the wagon. It would be a tight fit if we had to stay inside the wagon for any length of time, but most nights we would likely camp outside it.

Chester was an expert planner and seemed to have all the details worked out. It wasn't too surprising, since he had planned to go after her himself. He wanted to leave in a couple of days and I nodded my head in agreement.

John had been strangely silent for all of this. I looked at him and cocked my head hoping to have him put his feelings into words. "I've been a farmer all my life. Chester has been a welcome relief in protecting us all. I won't tell you that I'm not scared at your traveling and my two going with you. Glenn is a man and makes a man's choice. Mandy won't be with any but you and has said so." I put my hand on his shoulder.

He looked at my face and I just looked back into his eyes and then smiled. "I thought as much," he said to me in a low tone.

We got up and walked around the wagon. Chester and I were certain Glenn had taken a lot of time placing all kinds of nasty surprises well within reach under ledges and tucked behind places. They hid weapons in plain sight by adding little additions to them. It was indeed a war wagon for Chaos.

I could eat food closer to solid the next day. It hurt at times but I managed, and we made plans to head out. Mandy came to my room and slept with me, her body close, but I knew that we couldn't be more than just this. Since Chester didn't have a woman from Chaos as his wife, I deduced that he must have told her.

We were up early, fed, and said our goodbyes. I walked outside and everyone followed. There were two horses saddled along with the wagon and the four pulling it. I went up and got in the wagon with Mandy. She went to hand me the reins for the team and I nodded my head no and wouldn't take them. She smiled and we waited for Chester and Glenn to mount up. We waved good-bye as we headed down the road.

Chester was leading with Glenn next to him. We would make a slower journey with the wagon but the need to be hidden in plain sight made it necessary. Mandy would ask questions as we went along, and I would nod yes and no as she looked at me. We traded off the driving duties.

We stopped for lunch and Mandy went to the back of the wagon when we were finished. She came back holding my armor. She just stood there and watched me as I noticed Chester and Glenn move off to their mounts. Finally, I just took off my clothes and put these on. The pants were fine and the shirt, while it weighed a lot, was comfortable. The cloth that touched my skin was like flannel but when I pressed the outside of the shirt I couldn't feel the mail press into my skin. She had padded it.

Her smile was radiant at what she had done and I smiled back and then moved forward to kiss her cheek. She was having none of that, and when I got close enough, she lip-locked me, holding my head in place. I actually let the thought of pulling away flash across my brain but pulled her tighter to me instead. I heard a cough from Chester and we broke apart.

The rest of the trip had her sitting tight against me as we followed them down the road. We traveled that way for the next five weeks. We found some more chain mail and Mandy took the time to make the coverings for it for Chester and Glenn. It was a long process but she got them finished. That told me how many hours she had stayed busy, giving up sleep to work on mine.

We also stopped to resupply the food we needed as we went through the towns. At this point, I thought we were getting close to the Clan Lands and wrote that in the dirt one day to Chester.

"Yep, we should be about there now."

How do we find her? I wrote.

"Need to start doing our show and selling that snake oil," he snickered.

I nodded my head in agreement. And so at the next town, we started the process of doing that. Glenn tried hawking it and Chester tried and we didn't sell a bottle. People looked at us like we were fools and walked away.

We continued and I pointed to Mandy one day as we discussed over lunch what we needed to do to sell the medicine. The others looked at her, and I pointed at her again.

"I can't do that. I don't know what to say."

I looked at her and pointing to me smiled and raised my eyebrows.

"I think he said you just looking pretty will sell it," Chester said for me. I nodded my head in agreement.

We ended selling four bottles and she got some rude comments from a couple of the men. I wanted to thrash them but didn't as it would blow the cover I had tried so hard to establish. Chester and Glenn handled it and we moved on.

Over dinner, Mandy was complaining about having to sell but when I pointed to Chester and Glenn and made a zero and pointed to her and held up four fingers the decision was made.

We were getting three pinches for a small container and five for a larger one. We weren't making that much but we weren't in this looking for sales. It was four days later that I overheard one man say to another.

"I wonder if that will help with the cock burner Reeves has."

I caught Chester's attention and he came over. We were behind them and I pointed to my dick and rubbed my hands together. Chester winked at me knowing what I meant. He asked loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Mandy, will that heal burns?"

"Why yes, Chester, it will," she replied.

The men turned around and looked at Chester and I. "This one here was burned by one of the cock burners. Lost his tongue to the man that came after her and took her away." I opened my mouth and showed the stub. "But our cure worked on his burns."

"Prove it," Chester looked at me and I dropped my pants.

"No burn."

They each bought a bottle and I watched as they went off laughing and slapping one another on the back. It was our first lead, and if I was right they would be heading off to find Reeves. I left Chester and Glenn to close up with Mandy and followed them at a distance. They eventually ended up at an inn for a while before they came out with another man and rode out of town to the north.

I made my way back to the wagon and my horse was there with weapons and food. I got on and took off after them. I knew the rest would follow, so I only had to mark where I was going. They had been taking a slow pace to Reeves because it only took about five minutes to catch up to them to where I could see them in the distance.

They didn't care about looking around for anyone behind them. I stopped and put three stones next to each other and then walked my horse for a while.

Something had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. It was like they were walking me into a trap. I had had that feeling more times that I liked to remember so I moved off the road and waited for the wagon to catch up.

The Damsel had to be close because they were in no hurry so late in the afternoon. I put three rocks on top of each other and headed off into the woods to wait. That was our stop sign, and I knew Chester would do just that. It was almost an hour later when they caught up, and I tossed a rock at a tree to lead them to me. We were deep enough in the woods to not easily be seen.

I had many hand signs with Chester as Glenn kept watch. What we couldn't communicate with that, I wrote out for him to read. We were close to her but the danger had me wired so I ended up not sleeping in the wagon with Mandy. Chester and I spent the night out in the woods but nothing came of it.

We had to waltz into their trap and there was no way around it. After we ate and got everything packed away, I got in the wagon with Mandy. We had to count on our ruse working if we were going to get close enough to rescue her. It's that go, no go decision point, and you face it every time you need to make a decision of importance.

We got back on the road and made our way forward. We were heading into the belly of their beast and it put me on edge. I scanned the woods as we moved forward. I hated being the bait rather than the hunter.

They let us in without contest until after we had stopped for lunch. We were on the ground when six men came riding in.

"What are you doing here?" One of them asked me.

I made a grunting sound, and he glared at me. Chester came over and said, "He lost his tongue. We're just passing through, selling our wares."

"You selling the woman, that's the ware I want to be having," one of them said. I had no doubt that Mandy was about ready to reach for the crossbow at her feet if she needed to.

"Not selling any women, slavery isn't legal." Chester said moving his hand to his sword.

"You're the one selling that cure for the cock burner?" The one who first had spoke said.

"We sold some for that yesterday." Chester replied.

"You will be able to sell all you can make then," he and the others laughed.

That told me things were not going well. They were using her before they dispatched her. My guts had me wanting to kill them and barge my way in. They were inferior to me and the abilities I possessed, but I didn't have a clue as to where they were keeping her.

Then there was the warning about them being Clan and the treachery they were known for, and I was sure there were a number of other surprises they would have for anyone coming to take her. Hell, I couldn't even ask them where she was.

"That one don't talk much," another of them said.

"Ain't got no tongue, got it cut out over one of them cock burners," Chester replied.

"Ain't much of a man to let someone cut out his tongue," another added.

"He works well enough but he has lost the will." Chester replied.

"So you won't sell the woman?" That one was back asking again.

"I don't own her. But I'm sure she would be willing to tell you herself if you made it over to her." I heard a tapping on metal and looked up to see Glenn sitting on top of the wagon with a crossbow in hand.

It caught the ear of the leader, and he glanced up. "You'll be dead before you get past me Tom," he said, no doubt to the one who had been asking.

Tom looked over at him and followed his eyes to Glenn. He didn't move and Glenn just sat there. We needed to balance a delicate line with them. That line was that we were willing to protect what we viewed as ours.

They asked about buying the medicine, and we sold three large containers of it. I had no doubt we would be playing this game for higher stakes the closer we got. I didn't know if it was a true remedy for the cock burning, but we were setting her up for more rapes. My hope was that we would get there in time before they killed her either for the hell of it or because our remedy didn't work.

They disappeared as we headed back on the road. I felt that we would be seeing them again. That one wanted Mandy, and if they were Clan, one would ask and the others would likely support him. That he promised to share her after he was done would be enough to get them to do it.

I wanted to find a cave for us to defend ourselves but that wasn't to be. The land had small hills and a couple of bluffs. We didn't have time to find a cave anyway, and we were in their woods. I was certain they would attack.

I wrote it all down for Chester to read, and he nodded his head in agreement. He wanted to stay out in the woods with me, but I needed to be the solo operator while he took care of protecting the wagon and the stock. They were watching us anyway, so we had a hot meal and then moved inside the wagon. Once it got dark, I exited through the bottom escape hatch and found a place to settle in.

They came about three hours after dark. Walking slowly, there was one group of three close to me and another about a hundred yards away. Slowly, they all made their way up to the wagon. No doubt they were going to try to force entry, kill all the men, and just take Mandy. It would have been a good plan in normal circumstances.

The problem was the portholes in the wagon that could be used to fire the crossbow bolts through. This tail had a stinger, and they were going to die finding that out.