Chapter 4

The sun rose.

James’ eyes opened slowly as the sensation of the sun heating the earth roused him from his slumber. His eyes were fluttering as he looked up to see the orange and yellow rays spilling through the canopy of trees. He extracted himself from the two slumbering beauties and smiled. Anne was shivering so he pulled the blanket across her and she cuddled into it. He exited the tent to find an area that wasn’t too close so he could evacuate his bursting bladder.

He found a spot, unzipped and blew out a breath as his body released nigh on a metric ton of urine.

When he was done, he walked for a while, simply exploring. He came to what he saw was a cliff; he walked to the edge and looked out at the vast landscape. He stood, leaning against a tree, watching the great vista beyond and seeing an eagle high in the sky. He continued watching as it turned and wheeled in the air, looking for prey.

And then, he felt it.

A great sorrow. Deep within his heart of hearts, deep within his soul.

He realized that he would never see anyone he knew again. His legs trembled, his knees grew weak, and he fell to the ground. His eyes grew wet and tears fell, hitting the ground. He wracked his body as he cried.

Eventually, James stood up, gripping the tree in a stranglehold for support, and wiped his eyes. He heaved gulps of air until he felt surer on his feet, then went to the cliff’s edge again. He looked down and, for the longest moment, contemplated ending it all to join those he had loved in his prior existence. But he heard a sound behind him and knew that fate had intervened.

“Oh shit...” As he turned, his foot moved slightly and that was enough. The foot slid down, and his turn had put him off-balance enough that he wasn’t able to react before his whole body began moving downward. He felt himself falling. As he fell, he scrabbled in the dirt but it crumbled in his grip. The slide continued; he felt the earth fall away.

‘This is it,’ he thought for a moment, and was calm. He closed his eyes, knowing that this was the end. Well, at least it was a good day to die. He never saw the hand that whipped out at great speed and grabbed his arm. He opened his eyes to see Anne, lying there, holding him.

“James,” she grunted through gritted teeth.

“Anne...”

He stared in wonder at her, as she looked at him with concentration.

She shifted to her knees for leverage, then hefted, her muscles rippling underneath the delicate fabric of her blouse as she yanked hard. She pulled him up and, impossibly, all the way to where he could put his feet onto terra firma. The two fell together; James landed, not very gently, into her ample bosom.

“Are you hurt?” Anne asked with wheezing breath.

He lay there gasping, but also enjoying the sensation of being sandwiched between two large breasts.

She realized what he was doing and shoved him off her. They both rose to their feet and she took stock of his condition. She noted wryly that his groin seemed to be working just fine.

“Come on.” With a wave, she indicated the way back to their campsite.

When they got back to camp, Claire looked at James’ dirt-covered clothes and asked in concern, “What happened?”

“James slipped and fell off the cliff.”

“My God! Are you okay?”

James nodded.

“Yes, I am now. Nearly dying changes your perspective, though, eh?”

She nodded, “I bet.”

“James needs something taken care of,” Anne responded and pointed at his bulge. The nurse blushed and grinned, standing up and straightening her dress.

“I can help with that. Personally, as a medically trained professional, I highly recommend a steady dosage of pussy,” she winked and he laughed.

He unsnapped his trousers, took them off and looked at her. She pushed him gently to the ground, then bent to worship his erection a bit. Eventually, she lowered down and slid him into her, exhaling in pleasure. Claire moved her arms around his neck and got to work, with a slow and steady motion. Of necessity, it was a quickie, though, and James soon released his load.

The day was spent gathering supplies, Claire got medicinal herbs while Anne went fishing. James hunted deer and after getting one, alternated carrying and dragging the carcass back to the camp.

They gutted, cleaned, and cut up the animal. Nothing was wasted, not even the bones. Claire was able to use them for medicinal purposes while James stretched the skin out to dry.

When they had everything they could collect from the day’s effort, the group headed out once more.

James’ heightened hearing picked up a scream. He lifted his head up, which caused Claire to look at him with concern. “What’s wrong?”

Ignoring the question, he simply told his mount, “Go,” as he tapped the horse with his heels. They headed in the direction of the cry for help. Soon the horse was cantering, then galloping, as it pounded the ground; the two women followed suit in the carriage.

James saw men dragging off what looked like a blond-haired boy.

“Gonna fuck you good,” one of them shouted. They, three men, whooped their excitement loudly. James took note of the three as he dismounted the horse and ran at them. James pulled out three arrows and took his bow from his back.

“Picking on a child. Tsk. Tsk.”

They turned as James loosed the first one, hitting him in the face, dropping him gruesomely. He loosed the second one before the man could draw his pistol and then shot the final one in the arm. He walked over to the child and looked down.

“You okay?”

The boy nodded his head. James walked over to the remaining live man, who was grimacing in pain. He had dropped his gun and was bending over to pick it up with his off hand.

James kicked the pistol away as the man begged for his life. James verified the other two were dead and retrieved their weapons. With a pistol in hand, and with a cold-blooded look, he turned to the lowlife and said.

“Ezekiel 25:17. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.”

The two women got off the carriage as they heard the gun shot.

The young boy turned out to be a young woman. She got up on trembling knees and watched warily as Anne and Claire walked over to her.

“Hello, girl,” Claire said. “What’s your name?”

“W-weather.”

“Weather?”

She nodded, “Yes.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Nothing bad.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Claire retorted in a business-like tone. “I’ll examine you. I’m a healer.”

“Best in the country,” James interjected while taking inventory of the bodies.

Anne nodded a “Yes,” and the young girl shrugged her shoulders in acquiescence.

James scavenged the men for some stuff. He got silk that Claire could use for sutures and took their clothing. The garments needed washing but would be useful. Extra boots were great to have; you could never have too many of those. And there was a nice-looking pocket watch that still worked. They had some money on them. He took that and then, with Anne’s help, dragged their naked corpses far away from the camp to let the vultures have them.

They set up camp in the spot the rapists were going to use. James cooked some meat for the girl and she ate hungrily. He started the conversation while he as cooking, “Where’s your family?”

She shrugged, “They sold me to those men.”

“Oh. Where will you go now?”

She shrugged again, “No idea.”

James sat back. “You could come with us. Are you interested in doing that?”

“If you want.”

“It’s not what I want,” James said. “It’s about what you want. You’re free now. Make a choice and we’ll help you as best you can.”

She nodded, replying, “I’ll go with you. You lot seem decent enough.”

Anne smiled, “We are.”

They set up camp and the next morning James went down to the river. He found Weather was already there, standing up to her knees in the water, with nary a stitch of clothing on. She turned to get out and saw him approaching the bank.

“Hi.”

James smiled, “Hello.”

“You coming in, or what?”

“Sure,” he shrugged and quickly stripped bare. “Not worried about me?”

“Naw,” she shrugged. “I figured if you were going to try something, you would’ve shot them then raped me.”

He inclined his head, acknowledging her reasonable thinking. They quickly finished laving themselves without further discussion and headed back to camp.

Eventually the group hit a town and hitched their horses to a post outside the first saloon they saw. James affected a drawl, saying, “Time ta git us some grub.”

“I concur,” Claire said as her stomach rumbled. The group walked into the saloon, through the requisite swinging doors. The barman looked up and the handful of patrons looked their way. James walked over to the bar, noisily pulled some coins from a pocket, and indicated his desire for a libation. “Drinks, for the ladies and me. I’d appreciate it if you’d use clean glasses.”