The Righteous Way

Chapter 9

“You are a thief, aren’t you?” Alex asked,

“Well not any... oh... you mean?”

“Yes,”

“What?” asked Scarlett,

“Nothing wench, just leave it to me,”

“James --” Alex tried,

“No, let’s see what the fool can do,” Scarlett gave him a smile.

Once Alex was free James began to look at the door. “No handles on this side or keyholes... but it’s a simple latch mechanism.” He pulled out one of his daggers which had been hidden in his pant-leg. He slid it through the crack and lifted the latch. “Still think the all-seen sword is the only weapon worth holding?” James slowly opened the door and peeked about. No one was in sight which gave him an eerie feeling. “I guess they all feel safe enough to leave us unguarded,” he said,

“Be careful anyway,” said Scarlett.

The three exited the building and disappeared into the shadows. Once they were a safe distance from the village James crouched in the dirt and began to draw.

“Alright, so if this is the village we need to set up here, here, and here,” he pointed to three locations around the outer perimeter, “If our beast comes back to town our line of sight should cover the entire village.” He then made a triangle with the points as corners. “Now, I’ll go recover our things and maybe some food?” he looked at Alex who shook his head, “Okay only our things and we’ll hunt for food,”

“But what if the beast attacks during the day?” asked Scarlett,

“Then the villagers will hopefully kill it, but it only takes one to hunt,” he looked at Scarlett, “Alex and I will keep an eye out, if we need sleep, do it during the daytime, at night we all stay awake, understood?”

“Understood,” both said. James nodded and went back into the village while Alex and Scarlett went to their separate lookout points.

The night was uneventful as they watched. When the morning came, they could hear the villagers all exclaiming that the three of them had escaped. A few men rode horses into the pastures to search, but passed right by the trees where they hid waiting. Alex was the first to sleep. He anchored himself to the branch and closed his eyes. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until his body relaxed. The relief to his eyes and mind took him quickly to his dreams.

Scarlett stayed low in the tall grass as the men from the village rode by. She already had two dead rabbits slung over her shoulder and only needed one more. Once the men were gone she stepped lightly through the grass and found her last target. She took her bow and fired; hitting the mark and killing the rabbit instantly.

When she went back she handed a rabbit off to Alex and the other to James before heading for her own lookout. She cooked her own meal and after eating she climbed and sat quietly in the tree looking out over the countryside.

After a very quiet day the sun began to set and the men returned from their search empty-handed. Scarlett chuckled at their misfortune. She watched them enter their houses then kept her eyes peeled for any movement. After a couple hours, she noticed something, but instead of something heading for the village she saw something exiting the village.

She cursed under her breath at James figuring he must not have been paying attention and let it in. She descended to the ground as quickly as she could and started running for the creature. She couldn’t get a good view of it as it moved low through the grass. She then saw James and Alex also moving in from their respective positions.

“How could you let it through?” she whispered once they all regrouped and followed together,

“I didn’t, I thought you did,”

“My eyes did not falter, nothing was moving,”

They both looked at Alex , “I made no mistake,” he said.

They all looked at each other confused and picked up their pace. Once they were close enough the saw the creature dragging another of the village girls through the plains. Alex gave signals for them to spread out and surround it. Scarlett took her bow and flanked left while James went right. Alex drew his sword and kept on following directly behind.

Once they were in position he let out a sharp whistle and Scarlett fired. The arrow struck the beast and it gave off a scream. The three moved in to see blood dripping to the ground. Alex then saw the truth. He pulled a large bear pelt off of what was now a wounded man. The arrow had struck him in the leg and he rolled over grunting from the pain.

“Fiend!” James shouted, “What is this?”

The man looked up at the three standing over him, recognizing them as the prisoners who had escaped. “Oh, thank goodness you found us, I was just trying to get this girl back home,”

“Hold your tongue!” James shouted, “We watched you drag her here,”

“No I--”

Alex put his sword to the man’s throat. “No more lies cur,” Alex said, “In fact don’t speak at all, you will pay for your crimes,”

“My crimes?” he asked, “What crimes? I am only a humble farmer taking what is rightfully mine,” his innocent confused face turned to a manic grin, “For by my sweat shall be my reward and have I not sweated to do my deeds?”

“We said hold your tongue!” Scarlett kicked him near his wound making him howl in pain,

“Go ahead and hurt me, but I will do as my strength allows, I am a man and women are mine to conquer and do with as I please,”

Scarlett was about to stomp him again, but Alex stopped her. “We are not savages,” he said, “We do not hurt the injured,”

“But Alex !” James pleaded, “This man has murdered young girls and maybe even others, how can we stand idle?”

“We won’t, we’ll drag him back and let the villagers do as they please,”

“Are you forgetting they want us dead?”

“If they can’t see reason we will take matters into our own hands, either way he will not go free again.”

James and Alex grabbed the man and began to drag him through the dirt and weeds with no regard to his screams as his wounded leg bounced around the terrain. Scarlett carried the girl who was still alive, but unconscious. When they entered the village one of the villagers spotted them and rang the alarm bell. Everyone came to see the commotion.

“They have another one!” shouted someone in the crowd, “Kill them!”

“Hold yourselves!” Alex shouted as he drew his own sword. “This man is your murderer! He would have killed this young one had we not intervened,”

“Tovald? You think Tovald is the killer?” mocked the villager, “He is but a simple farmer,”

“Regardless, he is the killer, the clawed gauntlets upon his hands should be proof,”

“Your lies will not dissuade us!”

“Well?” James asked,

“We can’t outrun them all, they have horses,” Scarlett said,

“Then we fight,” said Alex , “But no casualties,”

“That might be difficult,”

“Fighting evil always is.”

Alex charged knocking the first man out with his shield while James stood by guarding his side. The two took on multiple villagers at once and knocked them down one after another. Scarlett stood alone fighting three at once. She was quickly knocked down and one of the villagers raised a pitchfork ready to end her.

The deviant Tovald cackled as he watched the chaos ensue. James sprinted and tackled the armed villager knocking the fork away. Scarlett quickly tripped another man with her lance and pushed off the ground. She gave a barrage of attacks blunt attacks to the third.

Both James and Scarlett turned to aid Alex once more, but noticed only a litter of aching bodies at his feet. All the villagers now were rolling in the dirt holding broken bones and bloodied faces. Alex then walked back to Tovald.

“What do you--” he started, but Alex ran his sword through Tovald’s chest before he could finish.

“If they will not fulfill justice, I will,” Alex said looking into the dying man’s eyes until he slumped over dead. Alex took back his blade and wiped it off before sheathing.

“I never thought I’d see it,” said James with a grim look,

“See what?”

“You kill someone, didn’t you tell me you are not to judge and execute?”

“I know, I have failed in my duty to show these people their killer, but I will not allow such a fiend to go free, so if they will not punish him, I will,”

“Either way he deserved it,” Scarlett said,

“That doesn’t matter,” said Alex , “I failed,”

By now the young girl they had saved stirred awake and saw the dead Tovald on the ground. She backed away quickly screaming. “The monster! it’s the monster!”

“It’s okay little one,” Scarlett said trying to calm her down, “the monster can’t hurt you anymore.”

She hugged Scarlett and cried as everyone watched. “Oh no,” said the town leader as he stood up, “What have we done? Are we so blind with fear that we let a wolf live freely among our sheep?”

“At least he won’t be bothering you anymore,” said James , “But now you’ve gone an upset my friend here, he didn’t want to kill this man, he believes it wasn’t his place to do so.”

“Well stranger, whether you accept it or not, you have done us a service and we ask forgiveness of our sins against you.” The man bowed.

“Stand, for I am no master of men,” said Alex . He turned and began to walk away. James and Scarlett ran after him. “I need a moment,” Alex said as they caught up,

“What you did was justified, there should be no guilt in it,”

“I took a man’s life, it would be inhuman to not feel guilt, now please I need a moment to pray for forgiveness,”

James watched him go as he knelt against a tree. “Should we let him be?” Scarlett asked,

“If only I could,” James walked forward. The closer he got the more he could hear Alex crying as he prayed. James stopped at his side and knelt clasping his own hands. It was weird to him, the idea of an all-knowing being that controlled all the random events of life? He was still skeptical, but he also knew that it was something important to Alex and so he prayed. He asked forgiveness for his friend and then although he wasn’t sure why he asked forgiveness for himself. He began to remember all the terrible things he’d done to people over the years and they became vivid in his mind.

Tears ran down his face and he begged that he might be freed from the pain of guilt and remorse. He wasn’t sure how long he was upon his knees, but when he felt a hand on his shoulder he noticed how raw his knees felt. He opened his eyes and turned to see Alex . James stood up and faced his friend.

“I thought you didn’t believe in a deity?”

“I was only showing you that you aren’t alone,”

“I know, you’re a good man James ,”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been called such,”

“It’s true and you will be forgiven if you keep to it.” Alex held out his hand, James took it and Alex pulled him up. “Where to now?” Scarlett asked as they rejoined her. She had built a fire in their absence and they sat down to warm up.

“I thought we were just pious fools to you,” Scarlett said,

“You are, but if piety is how a friend can show support I’ll pray a thousand times over,”

“Maybe you’re not the fool I thought you were,”

“Think what you will, I have no need to dwell on your thoughts of me, besides, at least a fool can be innocent.”

They both looked at Alex to see if he had anything to add, but he was asleep. Scarlett shivered as she too laid down wrapping herself tightly in her cloak. James could feel it as well; the cold air of the night was chilling. “Winter’s approaching,” he said aloud.

Scarlett pulled her fur cloak tighter around her body. She had always hated the cold of winter. “Here,” Alex said as he draped his quilt around her. “Thank you,” she said as the three marched on through the snow. They walked along what they figured to be the road and were quickly warned aside by an approaching wagon. On the front was a large plow that pushed the snow aside making a narrow pathway just wide enough for any unsledded carriages to pass through.