WWIV - Basin of Secrets (17 page)

Almost too soft, he began again. “But we survived – though it was difficult, and we lost many along the way. My father and brother are not the only casualties of this war. No, we have all lost someone, I know.” He paused to clear his throat, letting the emotion of the moment swell through the crowd. “We must be committed to our loved ones’ memories. Will we let their deaths mean nothing? Or will we avenge our ancestors, our loved ones, our friends?”

Jumping off of his perch, Willem began to move through the group. “We live and succeed so that their memories never die. We are at the gates of our destiny. This moment will mean more to all of you than any moment you have ever lived – any moment you will live in the future. This is the culmination of six years of planning. Six years of starving. Six long years of an unquenchable thirst. From this moment on, my dear people, we will never thirst again.” Noise rose as the group, his group, began to cheer and reach to touch their leader. Willem let all come and be in his presence.

“Some will say,” he yelled above the crowd, “that we are too vicious, too much set on revenge. But I ask you, is it not justice to return the actions of those who have oppressed us for so long?”
 

Screams rose above his voice. Many shouts of “YES!” rang into the morning darkness.

“And now we will punish those who thought it right to punish us. We will repay their years of gross injustice with swift and honest judgment. We mean to harm no innocent person. But for those who have taken from us, we begin taking back now – this day.”
 

Riders jumped on their horses as shots rang out, emphasizing Willem’s speech.
 

 
Finding Howard in the crowd, Willem gave him a quick wink. Howard smiled slightly, shaking his head.
 

“Go my friends, go and reclaim what is rightfully ours – what is rightfully
yours
! If any man or woman shall perish during this great fight, I promise you, that person will be remembered as a great warrior for years – no, generations – to come.”
 

Claps and shouts lifted high, along with the torch flames, filling the morning air with electricity.

“Find me Talbot Bond,” Willem screamed, as if he were a madman. “Find him, hold him, and when I arrive, together we will have our justice. Go now, follow your leaders and make haste into the mountains where those who have oppressed us now cower in fear.”
 

The group circled the town square several times, lifting their torches and weapons, screaming the Tarlisch name. Then, as one large mass, their steeds broke free from the center and sprinted away into the darkness. Willem watched, grinning, as every last rider dissolved into the early morning darkness. Turning to Howard, he chuckled. “Not one of my best speeches, but it seemed to do just fine for that group of cretins. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t kill every living thing they came across between here and those two camps.”

“That’s not what we’re trying to do, boss,” Howard answered with a frown. “We want to rule, but I don’t think we want to garner the attention of every last militia unit in the Salt Lake Basin.”

Willem snorted, turning to walk back to the Temple. “Oh Howard. You’re such a downer sometimes. You know…” He stopped to look back one last time at the village square. “…as a leader, I’d rather be feared than loved. If they fear you, they’re too scared to rise against you. If they love you – well, look at what happened to Erickson and his gang of thieves.”

Still frowning, Howard turned for the Temple. “I don’t think you got any problem with the citizens fearing you, Will. Done a pretty good job of that already.”

Sitting forward in his saddle, Tom Finkel watched as a large mass of torches made its way to the east, toward the mountains. From his perch on a tall outcropping of stone, he knew this was the attack they had all been warned of, the one that everyone secretly prayed would not come. It was common knowledge that Tarlisch had as many as 2,000 men and women at his disposal. Far too many for five units of Upland Guard to fight, especially since each unit had less than a dozen in the ranks now.

As the torches drew nearer – riders on horseback, Tom assumed – the groups began to split apart like fireworks shot high in the air back in the old days. Concentrating on the lights, he counted seven, then eight, and finally nine separate units, or attacks, in his mind. Three groups headed north before disappearing behind a small outcropping, blocking his view. Two more came straight at his position, east into the mountains. The other three, maybe four, headed south. He watched those riders the longest, for another good 10 minutes, before they too disappeared from sight. Turning his horse, he spurred it back toward camp, back to spread the word to the others.

Back in camp, he discovered a quiet scene. Most men would still be sleeping. The morning sun was just beginning to paint a pink tint on the eastern horizon. The only one up would be Jefferies, the nighttime sentry.

“Halt, password rider,” Jefferies called out as Tom’s horse slowed.

“Don’t be a dunderhead, man – it’s me, Finkel,” he replied.

“Still need the password. Captain’s orders you know.” Jefferies didn’t appear to want to back down.

Tom thought hard. They changed passwords far too often for a group of men that rarely saw others. The chance of anyone stumbling into them was far less than the other way around. “Your mother makes great pie,” he finally spit out.

Jefferies laughed. “Nah, it’s wagon-train this week. But my mom does make good pie.”
 

“I need to see the captain, right away, dude,” Finkel demanded. “Is he up yet?”

Jefferies snuck a peek back at the small encampment. “Nah, they’re all still sleeping. Sun’s just starting to come up.”

“I know, but this is important,” Finkel pleaded. “I gotta talk to the captain right away.”

Playing with the fire, Jefferies filled the coffee pot with water. “What’s so important?”

Finkel’s expression firmed. “There’s movement down in Salt Lake. Riders, at least two dozen heading toward the camps. All of them I think. Maybe not Eleven and Twelve. But certainly those on the western edge.”

“That’s not good,” a low, gruff voice added from behind. Both younger men jumped, startled by the new speaker – Captain Joseph Harmes.
 

Finkel nodded his head vigorously. “I figured you’d want to know right away, sir,” he stuttered.

Captain Harmes stared at the fire, deep in thought. “Well boys,” he started slowly, “seems like Willem Tarlisch is coming for his revenge.” He leaned and felt the coffee pot, still cool, frowning. “After we get Jefferies here to get that coffee made, we’ll need to run word to the colonel. Quick like.”

Walking was boring – usually. Betsi glanced from side to side, not as bored as she normally would have been. Inside, her stomach twisted another loop around itself. Her mind raced searching for bears or even wolves, both of which were plentiful in this remote area. On the outside, she noticed her steps were smaller, almost timid. On the inside, it was hard to get a full, deep breath. Perhaps there was nothing to be frightened about, she thought. But for some reason, Betsi was frightened.

A tug at her arm made her jump. Spinning on her heel, she found Jeremy. “Holy crap, Jeremy. Don’t scare me like that,” she said between gritted teeth. “How much further until we get to the spot you saw the bear?”

A quick shake of his head showed her his complete uncertainty. “First of all, I didn’t say it was a bear. Just a brown animal of some sort. As far as where…” He scanned the thick foliage for any sign of life. “…well, somewhere around here I think.”

Slowly, they moved forward together, hand in hand. Neither were overly brave in Betsi’s mind. After another 50 paces, they stopped again. “I don’t see anything, babe,” he whispered. “Whatever it was must have moved on.”

A snap in the brush behind them caused the pair to startle and turn quickly. Betsi scanned the brush for movement, any movement. She was about to say something when a large moose stepped into an opening in the woods, maybe 50 yards from their position.
 

She watched as Jeremy lifted his finger to his lips. “Just stay still,” he whispered. Betsi gave a small nod to show her agreement. The moose stared at them, chewing its cud, for what seemed like an hour. Finally, after holding her breath deep in her lungs, Betsi was able to exhale as the large animal wandered from view.

“Wow,” she mumbled. “That was closer than I really want to be to a big creature like that.” Another crash in the woods caused her to scream. Jeremy shoved her behind his body, protecting her from whatever attack was coming.

A family of raccoons scampered from the undergrowth and ran across the road, not even 30 feet from the pair. Jeremy chuckled first, followed by Betsi’s loud snort. “Oh goodness,” she cried, “I am scared to death today. Everything has me on edge.”

Jeremy turned and rubbed her tight shoulders. “Don’t blame you, Bets. Seems to be a lot out here today. More than yesterday.” His words were cut off by another crashing sound in the woods as the moose tore off, hearing them speak. After catching their breath one last time, they smiled at one another. “Okay, all clear. Let’s keep going.”

Two steps was as far as they got before two dark figures stepped from the edge of the woods onto the crumbling road. Dirty and thin, the men stopped and glared at the pair of travelers, holding their crude bows and arrows in front of their bodies.

“Thanks, assholes,” one exclaimed. “You just scared off the moose we’ve been following all morning. We almost had a shot, but then you two show up. Wonderful.”

Betsi moved to say something, but Jeremy stopped her and stepped forward. “Hey, we’re sorry. We didn’t know you were out here.” The pair seemed unmoved. And for some reason, they both stared around Jeremy and at her.

“Ain’t seen a pretty girl like you up here in a long time,” the second man offered. “Why don’t you step out from behind your boyfriend here and give us a look at you.”
 

Jeremy reached behind and grabbed his wife, holding her in place. “First off, she’s my wife. Secondly, why don’t you guys just move on and keep hunting.” He made his statement a demand, not a question.

The dirty pair leered at him. “Tell you what,” the leader began. “Have your wife step out into plain view and pull her shirt up. She shows us boobs, we’ll move on.” His equally filthy friend grinned at the idea.

“Yeah, I ain’t seen decent boobs in years,” the other seconded his friend’s request. “Let’s see ‘em baby.”

“No way,” Jeremy responded. “We don’t want any trouble, but you gotta be decent. We’ll give you some food, maybe some meds we have. But not what you …” His words trailed off as both men stared past him, not listening to a thing he’d said.
 

Betsi saw Jeremy’s head swivel as she stood topless in the road. She watched the strangers’ eyes study her naked self, over and over again. Stupid grins covered their faces. “Like them?” she asked.

“Betsi,” Jeremy shouted. “What the hell are you doing? Cover up, damn it.”
 

Betsi ignored his plea. “Done boys?”

“Can we touch ‘em?” asked one of the two.

The corners of Betsi’s lips curled up slightly. Slowly she replaced her bra and lowered her shirt. “No,” she replied. “You said see, not touch. I gave you what you wanted. Now let us pass.”
 

Letting her eyes slide to her husband’s face, she noticed his open mouth and angry expression. “What the hell are you thinking?” he sputtered. “Are you an idiot?” She motioned her chin in the direction of the retreating threat. They’d seen what they wanted.

Both husband and wife watched as the grinning pair disappeared into the woods from where they had appeared. As their steps became almost unnoticeable, one called back. “You’re a lucky man, dude. A very lucky man.”

Betsi’s satisfied smile shrank as Jeremy glared at her again. “That was stupid, Betsi. That could have been real bad you know.”
 

Betsi began walking again and brushed aside his anger. “Just a little skin, no big deal.” She snuck a peek back at her still steaming husband. “And they left us alone, so mission accomplished.” She heard him fall into step behind her on the road. “And it wasn’t like you could have fought them off, right?” she called back, increasing her stride.
 

She grinned, hearing no audible response from him.
I can take care of things just fine, old boy, just fine
, she mused to herself.

Late in the afternoon, Betsi judged by the sun in the far west sky that they were closing in on Camp Eight. At least, she hoped they were getting close. The main road to the fourth fire lane, the elders at Camp Six had said. Then another turn east on that fire lane, always staying right at every turn, and they would find the camp. Four hours or so at a steady pace, they had been told. With any luck, they would soon be at the gates of their desired destination.

Betsi turned to shout words of encouragement to Jeremy. He’d been pouting and giving her the silent treatment most of the afternoon ever since she had exposed herself for their safe passage. He complained it was her being an exhibitionist. He wasn’t even sure what kind of woman bared herself to others, much less a pair of hooligans like that.

She was much more practical about the whole situation. There was a need and she met the need. It wasn’t like
he
had any idea what to do. And so what if they had seen her bare chest, she argued. They’re just hunks of skin and tissue, she told him. And she was proud of her shape, still firm and tight at 36
.
Plus, others had seen her before this. Thus, no big deal. But this last bit of information she kept to herself.

“Come on slow poke,” she called to him. “We’re almost there. We can rest and get another decent meal. Maybe Dad will be…” Her words stopped short, looking past Jeremy. He must have seen her expression change, because she watched him spin from the corner of her eye. “Horsemen,” she quietly breathed back at Jeremy.