Chapter 5: A Feud

Eric stood up and looked around at the spectators. “Is anyone willing to do a little honest work for pay?”

Several men stepped forward. One asked “What do you want done?”

He held something up. “I’ve got four pinches here for four men who will dump these two bodies in the river. You people would be a lot healthier if you cleaned your town up.”

Four men came up for that. It was little enough pay, but it was a short job, too.

I had to ask. “What if they just dump the bodies around the corner and walk off?”

“Then they need to hope I never see them again. They took an honest wage for an honest job. If they cheat me, I’ll feel obligated to make sure they never cheat anyone again.”

One of the other spectators took off, running after the four. Eric turned to me. “We need to check out the shop. Either those guys worked for the owner, or he’s dead. I fucking HATE clearing houses. I’d rather fight in the jungle than in a town.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to cover the door while I go in. I’ll call you in when I’m ready. If it gets quiet, wait five minutes before you come in. We should have a complete entry team, but it’s gotta be done.”

So, I picked up what was left of the saddle with my left hand, held my sword in my right hand, and watched the spectators watch me as Eric entered the shop. After a minute, he called out “Come on in, Jason. There’s no ambush here.”

There was a mess, what was left of a shop. About the only thing of value left in the shop was a naked woman tied over a table. She was gagged and had clearly been raped repeatedly. Recently. Eric said “Our first rescued damsel. Keep a watch out while I set her loose and try to find out what’s going on.”

I wandered around, keeping an eye on the front door while I checked everything else. There was some food and drink on one of the tables. No one under the tables, no bodies in the corners. There was a back door but it was latched on this side, so I thought I should wait for Eric before opening it. Someone started to walk in the front door but went out again when I pointed my sword at him.

I walked back over there and told him “Nothing personal, but it would be better to stay out there for now. Do you know what’s going on here?”

“This was David the Armorer’s shop. He lived upstairs with his wife and sons. He was feuding with the town’s other armorer, Weldon. Weldon hired four men to kill him, then they took all of David’s goods back to Weldon’s shop. The four men have been hanging around here ever since, robbing anyone who came to David’s shop.”

“How long ago was this? There’s a woman in there, tied up and naked.”

“That would be David’s wife Millie. We heard her scream some at first, but not for days. We thought she was dead.”

“No, they just gagged her. What about their children?”

“We don’t know. They would have been upstairs. We haven’t heard from them, either.”

“Thanks for telling me all this. Now, please keep everyone else from coming in here. We’re trying to get Millie loose.”

I kept an eye on the door, but I went back and helped Eric get Millie untied and upright while I told him what I’d learned. Millie didn’t look that attractive. I know it’s not fair, but she was the first woman I’d seen since spending a couple of weeks with Shelly, and in comparison Millie was a fat, ugly slob. Being naked, dirty, injured, hungry, exhausted, and covered with cum didn’t help her appearance at all.

Eric gave her some watered wine from a bag and let her sit on the table she’d been tied to. The first thing she said was “My babies!”

I asked “Were they upstairs?”

She nodded.

“How do we get up there?”

She twisted to point at the back door.

Eric asked “Were there any traps?”

“No. It was just our home.”

Eric told me to stay with her while he checked it out. He treated it like an American soldier would, clearing a house full of hadjis. At least, as close as he could get without an automatic rifle, a full squad of soldiers, and a bunch of grenades. We could hear him going up the steps and moving around, with a couple of curses thrown in. He was back down with us, soon enough, and he closed and latched the door again before he said anything.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I found three children, all slain. If you had more than that I’ll go back up and look for them.”

“No. We had three children. I saw them kill my David, but I hoped they would spare the children. They had no part in Weldon’s anger.”

“What was that about? One of the men outside said that they were feuding.”

“Weldon felt that the town wasn’t large enough for two armorers, and he wanted David to leave. David used to tell Weldon that if that was true, and if he was any good, he would be able to drive him out of business just by lowering his prices.”

I looked at Eric. “I know that this isn’t our fight, but slaughtering children doesn’t sound to me like a normal business dispute.”

“I agree. Besides, we still need an armorer, or at least access to his stock in trade. Let’s let Millie here recover some, and then we’ll go see if there’s a town guard or sheriff before we go visit Weldon.”

“You can’t go there! His men will kill you!”

“How many men does Weldon have?”

“He has two assistants, and of course they know weapons. Now he also has the four bandits he hired to kill David.”

“Well, he doesn’t have those four bandits any more. He’s down to one and a half.”

“One and a half?”

“Three of them objected to us coming in here. Two are dead, and the third is missing most of his sword-arm. I doubt if he’ll be fighting for a while, even if he lives.”

I interjected “So it’s Weldon, his two assistants, and one bandit?”

“Right. Four to two, if they are all together. And if Stumpy made it back to them, they will know we’re coming. Or at least suspect it. Ma’am, how far is it to Weldon’s shop?”

“It is next to the docks. Less than six hundred paces.”

“Close, then. They could be on their way here now. Fine. Now, ma’am, I apologize for the insensitive question, but can you tell me how many of them raped you?”

“Why does that matter?”

“It will help us decide whether to let them go, kill them, or let them surrender and become your indentured servants.”

“All four of the bandits, and Weldon. I have nothing against Weldon’s two assistants.”