Chapter 2

She dried her tears and continued the conversation. "In this era, you are talking about becoming a mercenary soldier. Have you noticed that sword that some of the soldiers were carrying? It's called a khopesh.

(The khopesh had a short straight section between the handle and a gently curved section which slightly resembled a crescent moon. The only part that was sharpened was the outside of the curved section and the point. The point was in line with the handle, so that a simple stabbing motion would insure penetration, and the curved section would cut a ghastly wound as the sword penetrated the enemy.

(The sharpened curved section automatically provided the sliding, shearing action that a knife blade needed to make its best cut with the minimum of effort. The center of balance was out on the blade and not near the handle, so the khopesh was especially deadly as a hacking weapon. The khopesh was almost like an ax in that respect, but it was in a more convenient form.)

"Yes, I noticed, but I will admit that I was more interested in the spears. They have a longer striking range, so they are what one would first encounter. I am pretty sure that I can counter either the spear or the sword, as long as I don't have to face too many at one time."

"Okay, Bill, I'll follow your lead. I guess that we will have to wing it until we find somewhere to grab hold."

We walked into the city that we had been aiming for, and we must be here on a busy market day. The street was filled with displays of fruit, vegetables, and cuts of meat for sale, and there were other displays of pottery, clothes, and jewelery kind of mixed in at random. There were even displays of weapons on a couple of stands, and I noticed what looked like a small wooden buckler lying to one side as if it were for sale if one really wanted that sort of thing. It looked to me like the buckler was a good idea in such a crowd, because there certainly was no room for one to use a larger shield.

We had already passed the armor stand when we heard an altercation break out behind us. As with everyone else in the local crowd, we turned to see what was going on. Two tough looking characters had attacked the merchant who was selling the armor and weapons, and he was completely outclassed. They were both going after him with long knives, and he was defending himself with a short mace and a small shield.

Nobody else looked like they were going to get involved, but I could not stand there and see one small man be murdered by two large thugs. I simply could not resist trying to help the merchant. I shrugged off my toga and head covering and rushed to the aid of the merchant.

Neither thug noticed my approach from behind them, so I got in the first lick free. I kicked the nearer thug in the side of the knee and smashed it without him ever knowing that I had come up. The falling thug announced my presence to his companion. That thug turned on me with his long knife, nearly a short sword, and I had to react fast to save myself.

That small buckler was close to hand, and I grabbed it with my left hand to try to fend off the knife. It was probably just good luck on my part, but the knife point thrust at me got wedged into the wood of the buckler too deeply to be easily removed. That let me get in close enough to strike the thug in the throat with a proper fist, and I crushed his windpipe.

Meanwhile, the first thug was trying to stab me with the knife that he was still holding. I was saved a nasty gash in my leg when the merchant slammed his mace into the side of the thug's head. Both attackers were now dead, and the excitement was over.

"Thank you very much, kind Sir, but why did you come to my aid?"

"You looked like you needed the help. And that makes me wonder what was going on? Why would two men attack a merchant who sold weapons?"

"It was not the weapons, but the fact that I am a merchant that spawned the attack. Those two worked for Jasphat, the foulest creature to walk on two legs! They were trying to extort money from me for 'protection' against just that sort of attack. I am just a poor merchant, and they wanted a gold piece to protect me from harm. There was no way that I could pay that much for the sort of protection that they offered."

"Why didn't the authorities protect you? Surely, you were not the only merchant to receive extortion threats!"

"Ha! You are as much a stranger as your clothing attests! The authorities were receiving a portion of Jasphat's income to allow him to operate."

"In that case, you and the other merchants should combine your resources and hire some real protection. In fact, I am looking for a job. I am a mercenary soldier looking for employment. Would you people be interested?"

"By the gods, are you that brave!? You have certainly proven that you know how to fight. Yes, we will hire you. How much money do you want for the job?"

I turned to Sally and said, "Well, my Dear, here is you opportunity to shine. You do the negotiation." Sally smiled and entered the heavy negotiations. I don't know how they worked it out, but I was to be available for two days out of seven over the next month to protect the merchants who signed on, and I was to be paid 1½ gold pieces each week. The merchant gnashed his teeth at such a high price, and really quailed when he found out that he had to supply my arms.

He was somewhat mollified when I took the small wooden buckler and a mace as the arms that I would use. Those were the cheapest items that he had for sale, and I suppose that they were not grand enough for the average customer. Nevertheless, they were exactly what I needed for this sort of job considering the density of the crowd.

I started work immediately, and Sally went to find us a place to live and to purchase food and water. She also wanted to get some suitable clothes. That required that I be paid my first week's salary on the spot, but my rescue of the merchant was a point in my favor, and the new merchant's association came through with only a small argument. Namely, I was going to forget the whole thing if they did not cooperate. That was a powerful argument, and Sally won the day.

Okay, we were set for the next month, and further employment depended on how well this worked out. The merchants whom I was to protect used a yellow pennant to signal me and potential robbers as to who was protected. When the merchants without the yellow banner found out where this put them, they signed up, too. By the end of the day, I had customers running for two blocks, and nearly every merchant was a member of the club.

The next day, Jasphat, sent four collectors to visit his "clients." The first two who were visited were not on my list, and they paid up. However, the next one was on my list and he refused to pay. I was called in by this third merchant to be visited, as the thugs were annoyed and were determined to collect from this merchant.

I came running as soon as I got the word that one of my clients was being harassed by thugs. Fortunately, the thugs had not gotten far with intimidating this merchant who sold fruit. They were about to dump his display of melons into the street when I broke a wrist with my mace. That was sufficient to disable the man permanently, and he was certainly pissed off. As it happened, I had crushed his left wrist simply because it was the one most easily reached by my mace in my right hand.

I was going after the next thug in line when the first one tried to stab me with a knife he had pulled with his good hand. The knife could not be ignored, so I backhanded the man across the face with the business end of my mace. That smashed in his face and drove bone shards into his brain, such that he was no longer concerned with having a disability for life.

The other three thugs were very annoyed with me for treating their companion this way, so they dropped what else they were doing and came after me all at the same time. I was lucky because this was a very narrow street at this point, and only two of them could approach me at the same time. All three were carrying the ubiquitous long knives, so I was definitely facing a life-or-death situation.