Chapter 11

Author’s note: [ and ] delineate mind-to-mind dialog.

We went into town, and Janos rented the largest warehouse that was available. This was a hard sell for the owner, and we got it for a very good price. We unloaded the wagon, except for the money, and headed out for supper. The innkeeper recognized us and rented us our old rooms at no increase in price. The extra man got a room of his own. We stashed our wagon in the stable along with our horse. The canvas hoop was still on the wagon, so it was impossible to see the treasure boxes unless one climbed into the wagon.

The rescued man ate supper with us. When asked, he said that he was an army surgeon headed to a new employer. After supper, he was going to sew up his own wound, which was only a surface scratch, even though it did bleed like a stuck pig. He also volunteered to sew up Nikon’s wound so that it would not get infected.

I thought to Hippolyte, [This guy would be great to have in our group if he is any good at treating wounds.]

[Yes, that is a good point. He is currently unemployed, so he might be willing to join us, especially after what we did to that gang that raped and murdered his family.] “Agathon, would you be interested in joining us? As you can tell, we do occasionally have need for medical help. Tomorrow, we are going to buy another wagon. You could be the driver if you wish.”

“I have heard the men talking, and your quest to rid the roads of brigands does appeal to me, but you must remember that I am no fighter.”

“I am sure that you can learn to use a crossbow, and that you can do from your wagon. Yes, we can use your services if you will join us.”

“In that case, I would like to join you, and, yes, I can drive a wagon. I am also a pretty good trail cook, so maybe I can contribute something in that way.”

“Well, that alone would assure you of a place with us. Up to now, I have been the cook, and I am not all that good. Welcome to the cause.”

That night, Agathon worked on himself and Nikon, and both were in good condition the next morning. It looked like I had another job, too, since Agathon would need a set of armor simply to protect our interest in him.

Janos and Inor had burried Agathon’s wife and daughter yesterday while the rest of us were at the brigands’ camp; therefore, we did not have to worry about that today. We found another wagon and towed it behind Janos’ wagon to the horse dealer. There we bought a horse for more than we paid for Hades, but that was not unexpected. We also picked up the trappings we needed, so Agathon was able to drive behind Janos to the site of yesterday’s slaughter.

We loaded as much as we could into both wagons and headed back to our rented warehouse. A second trip was made to the camp that afternoon for another load in both wagons. Now that we had something to hide it under, we left the treasure in the warehouse. The stuff that we had put in there over the last two days was well worth stealing, but our reputation was preventing that, and we were grateful.

We went back for a third load that day, and just drove the two wagons into the warehouse and left them. The men spread the word through visits to taverns that the stuff in the warehouse was loot recovered from bandits, and it would be for sale at distress prices on Wednesday of the week after next. That perked up a lot of interest in town and in adjacent towns as the word was spread by travelers passing through town.

I had Janos spend several hours with Agathon teaching him how to use the crossbow. He was not a good shot with one after only one day of practice, but I figured that he could contribute something in the coming battle. That made Agathon feel better, too.

The next day was the one for the next gang in line to rob passersby on the road. We set up both wagons with canvas covers and had two men ride in each wagon. We hurried to the dangerous part of the road and lined up with Hippolyte dressed as a man and leading the caravan on her horse. Behind her was Janos, and Agathon was bringing up the rear.

Our tactics were to be the same as those used two days ago, except Agathon was to act as protector for Janos. We couldn’t see how that could go wrong, so we used that plan. We expected that we would be attacked from the side this time, so we were prepared for that. If we were hit from any other direction, we would just have to adjust on the fly.

Well, everything went according to plan. We were jumped just after Hippolyte got past the middle of the attacking gang, and they hit us from the left side, as we had expected. Hippolyte did not react immediately because she wanted to be sure that the whole gang had shown up for the attack. Our prisoner from two days ago had said that this gang had 21 members, and a quick count showed that there were 21 in the pack.

Once she was sure that everybody had arrived, Hippolyte couched her lance and charged. She attacked along the front of the gang and managed to pick off two of the bandits in her first charge. I couldn’t have done anything because the bandits were on our right, and I could not have reached them without getting into Hippolyte’s way.

Once she turned her horse around, she charged into the midst of the gang, and now I could have some fun. We were like the Furies out of mythology as we mowed down bandits. Meanwhile, the four infantrymen were hard at work. Once again, Inor’s tooth was showing its value. Agathon was even bringing down men with his crossbow. The whole battle lasted less than five minutes, and we made a clean sweep. It was a good thing that we knew where to find the camp this time because there was no one left to lead us there.

Ajax, Damon, and Nikon joyfully cut off heads and stuck them on poles while Agathon and Janos searched for loot on the bodies. Agathon seemed to find this job particularly satisfying. This time, we left Ajax to help guard the wagons with Janos and Agathon while Damon, Nikon, and Hippolyte went to examine the bandits’ camp.

God Dammit, when we got there, we found five slaves chained to trees, and all of the slaves were naked women. Fortunately, the slaves knew where the key was kept, so we soon had them loose and very appreciative of our arrival. The women were used as domestic slaves, but, obviously, they were also used as sex slaves. Every night, the women were rotated among the men who fucked them none too gently. Commonly, a woman was killed as soon as another prospective slave showed up. One woman was sure that she would be next because she had been there the longest, and, frankly, she was beginning to show the wear and tear.

There was plenty of women’s clothes among the loot, so the women were told to get dressed. They were warned not to select the expensive stuff because we wanted to sell it, but they could have free run of the common stuff. Naturally, this caused a chaotic situation because what woman can possibly make up her mind quickly when offered her choice among more clothes than she could possibly wear. The men were amused, but Hippolyte and I quickly became annoyed. She ordered the women to find something quick or spend the rest of the day naked. That broke the charm, and the women were dressed in about 15 minutes.

They told us where to find the treasure and this turned out to be more than we had found previously. Gods, what were we going to do with all of this money? That was the first thing moved to the wagons, but Hippolyte sent loot to the wagons in a very logical order, similar to what she had done previously. It took a couple of hours, but we had both wagons filled by the time we needed a break. Everybody had to walk back to town except Hippolyte and the wagon drivers. We got this load removed from the wagons and had time to eat lunch before returning to the camp for another load.

Ajax stayed in town with the women to have their slave collars removed. We didn’t know exactly what we were going to do with the women, but we felt that they had spent enough time as slaves. The women were ecstatic to have the slave collars removed, and they were quite willing to make another trip to the camp to help pick up some more loot. Three trips did not clean out the stores of loot, and we would have to come back tomorrow.