Interludes: Maryland. Friends from afar

Maryland Interlude: Friends from afar

A Note About The Authors: Joe and Kristi Schilling are currently living and working Kuwait. As far as I know neither are CIA operatives, but they are founding members of the Mid Atlantic Primitive Skills group based in Maryland. Joe is a primitive knife maker and his wife makes baskets and does primitive cooking. She also makes an attractive knife sheath for neck or hip.

Authors note. We're slowly learing Arabic, but for
thanks is Shrugraan, thank you is Afwan, Shorook is the
Arab second prayer of the day or the sunrise one, and
Asif is a form of apologizing.
Reason why I included some of this Arab stuff, is that
I believe if there is to be peace among people, there
has to be peace with the religions. Yeah, I know, fat
chance. But It was nice to dream of a time when people
of different beliefs can celebrate each others time of
blessings. Oh well....

Joe

Friends from afar
The sky started to lighten; battling back the darkness of the night as it reluctantly gave way to the onslaught of dawn. Beneath the bay waters of the Chesapeake was a dark hue turning grayish from the sky lighting above it, as two figures in a modified sea kayak made their way to a river inlet to make their way home. The sound of their paddles were perfectly in sync.
“Not a bad haul, huh dad?” Annabelle asked, looking in the storage compartment and the cages lashed to the sides.
“Not a bad haul at all, kiddo. I think we’ll have enough to last a week for the faire group, if your brother and sister don’t eat it all,” Joe said smiling at his foster daughter. “You really helped out this time. Getting the hang of lobstering. I’m proud of you.”
“Is that real word, lobstering?” she asked. Joe shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, I’m still proud of you.” The dark haired teen blushed, smiled and quickly changed the topic. “Dad? Why do you treat me like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m your own real daughter?”
Joe pulled back on the paddle, causing the kayak to lurch to a stop, and looked back at her in mild confusion. “Because you are my daughter! No, you weren’t born to us, but blood does not make a parent or a son or daughter. Your mom and I consider you to be our daughter as if you were our own flesh and blood.”
Annabelle eyes welled up with tears as she bit her lip and choked out, “Shugraan!” Then silently wept.
Joe smiled warmly and softly said, “Afwan.”
Annabelle quickly recovered and busied herself with getting the gear and food they collected, and Joe paddled their way to the river inlet while keeping an eye out for trouble. Getting back before full sunrise was one of the reasons why they wanted to get back. Even though it was rare since the Long Death, trouble makers were still around, and most were not mentally stable since the die off.
“Annabelle, isn’t it time for your sunrise prayer, Shorook?”
“Geeze, dad! For someone who’s not religious, you sure want me to be.”
Joe smiled and said, “Only so you won’t forget where you came from, your family.”
“But, dad, it wasn’t really required for me to do that,” Annabelle replied, but still making preparations for her prayer.
“Maybe, but it is still important to remember where we’ve been. Besides, when you come of age, you can decide if you wish to follow this or not. But for now, do what your father tells you.”
Joe steadied the boat as he let her pray, watching the sun rise.
“Dad!” he heard Annabelle whisper, he quickly looked around and saw it. A good size motor boat was chugging their way and he quickly pulled his Mossin Nagut rifle out and laid it across the bow as he watched them make their way towards them. The sound of the motor suggested poor fuel, or perhaps alcohol for fuel. Few people had gasoline these days.
He didn’t know if they were trouble or not, but he was prepared and got into battle mind set. “Get ready,” he said, and watched as she deftly wrapped a scarf around her hair and head, leaving her eyes exposed. He knew she did it out if habit to protect herself, but subconsciously she also intimidated strangers.
Joe smiled grimly as they took notice of the deer skull on the front bow and did a double take and looked nervous. ‘Good,’ he thought. ‘They know who I am. This will keep trouble down a bit, I hope.’
“Morning!” one of the men hailed out as they got closer.
“Morning,” Joe replied with a nod and got right to the point. “Something we can help you with?”
“I sure damn hope so! You’re Joe Deer Runner, right? Aren’t you’re associated with that faire group in Maryland?”
“Who wants to know?” Joe responded neutrally.
“I’m James, James Moorman, and this is my Buddy Mike. I heard your wife is something of a midwife and healer?”
Joe snorted and said, “Healer mostly, but she’d disagree with you. She knows enough. Can’t promise you anything.”
“Good enough, especially in this day and age. Some of our group has come down with the runs real bad. We think it’s the water. We’ve purified it, but people still keep getting sick and we heard she’d know what’s wrong.”
“Hey! That girl with you, she’s not yours is she?” James partner finally said. “Her eyes don’t look like yours. She looks…”
“Mike, shut the hell up!” James hissed. “I know where you’re going with this, and you’re drunk.” His eyes then widened in alarm as he noticed Joe pivoted the rifle barrel towards them. “Hey, hey, hey! Easy! Easy now! Lets not do anything hasty, okay?”
“What are you doing here?” Joe asked in a cold calm voice.
“We, we were fishing! Honest! Please, we’re not raiders, looters, or anything like that,” James yelped out. “Look! I can show proof!”
“Show me. Slowly.”
Slowly, James pulled up a string of fish and held them high for all to see and let them back into the water. “See? We were fishing, nothing more. We spotted your… deer head… on your bow and thought it was you. We really do need your groups help.”
“We could use his help, but I doubt that bitch sand nig…” Mike said, and then slammed his mouth together with an audible click as Joe raised his rifle right at him.
“Go ahead, say it. I dare you,” Joe growled, his eyes flashing. “You dishonor my daughter again; and I swear, I’ll fucking kill you where you are. Who knows, your death may be of some use. Bring more fish in, and we could use more food, that’s for sure.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Mike then spat. “Some rag head lover?”
Joe cocked the rifle, but halted as he saw James cuff his friend. “You damn fool! You trying to get us killed?” he spat as he cuffed him again. “Besides, we need help!”
It took a second or two for the realization to register in the drunks mind; and when it did, he went pale and leaned over the side and vomited. He wiped his mouth and looked back at Joe fearfully. “I, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he stuttered. “It’s just that she’s…”
“Yes, Arab American, third generation to be precise, and she’s my daughter now. You’ve got a problem with that?”
“N-no! Not, not anymore. I, I didn’t know, I am, was, drunk. It was cold so I had some liquor on an empty gut. I wasn’t thinking right. I’m sorry.”
“Fine, even though I doubt your honestly. It’s obvious your fear is keeping you in check,” Joe growled and lowered his rifle onto the bow, but still kept it pointed at them. “Okay, where’s your group? I’m not making any promises. If it’s too far out of our way, your group is S.O.L.”
James sighed with relief and said, “It shouldn’t be a problem. We’re along the coast, a small town called Sea Breeze. You can use our port.”
“Okay, I’ll relay this to my wife, but as I said, no promises. We may not be able to help, but we’ll see what we can do,” Joe replied. “Now, go. We’ll sit here until you’re out of sight.”
They started the motor and chugged away. Joe sighed and slowly put the rifle away with difficulty as he was shaking, and when they were some distance away, Annabelle started giggling.
“What’s so funny?” Joe asked smirking. “You find it amusing that your old man is shaking?”
Annabelle giggled again as she pulled off her scarf and said, “No, I find it suddenly funny that my father who is barely five six, made two big six foot guys pee their pants!”
Laughing Joe said, “Like in the natural world, size doesn’t mean anything. Yeah, something bigger is stronger can over power something smaller and weaker, but it’s all in attitude and intent. Yes, they were bigger, but I was more willing to draw blood. Predators and bullies want easy prey. Even a rabbit can make a fox back down if it makes things difficult for it.”
“I thought you were going to kill one of them from the look in your eyes, like last time.”
“That, that was different. This time I was able to talk it out, and it helped that they knew my reputation, and Spirit knows how rumors have distorted it over the years. Last time, there was no way around it. Those raiders had no intention on backing down and going away. They were too much in “might is right” mode, and they would have hurt you, your mother, and the twins. I wasn’t going to allow that. You of all people should know that.”
Annabelle was silent for a bit and listened to the water lap against the sides of the kayak and said, “Dad, I know you and Mom rescued me from that place and helped me overcome what I was going through, and I want to tell you what really happened to Crystal.”
“Sweetheart, I really think it would be best if your mother was here if you’re going to say anything about what happened. We know you experienced something horrible with loosing your best friend, and didn’t want to talk about it, and we didn’t push as we felt it would be better for you to decide when to talk about it,” Joe replied tightly, not knowing how to reply to some things that were running through his mind.
“I, I have to talk. Now! If I don’t get it out now, I’m afraid I won’t have the courage to do so later, and I’ll bury it deeper. I need to talk about how Crystal saved my life, and, and what happened to her,” Annabelle said, her voice trembling.
“You had another nightmare about it, didn’t you?” It wasn’t a question.
She nodded and said, “Yes, I, I relived it, all of it. I, I thought I was back there. I was little again. It, it was so real. I couldn’t wake up from it.”
Sighing in resignation, Joe butted the kayak up against a sandbar and said, “Okay, if you’re really sure about this. Go ahead.”
Annabelle carefully scooted forward and leaned against her foster father and said, “I met Crystal who was two years older than me a day after the last member of my family died. My grandfather. Mom’s father. I left my home, not knowing where to go, but I couldn’t stay home, not with my family there, dead. So I decided to take refuge in the mall. Yeah, I was a girly girl, but that was a place of comfort for me, it was familiar.”
Joe smiled and stroked her hair and said, “I understand, but you’ve come far too.” The water of the inlet rocked them gently.
“It was there I met Crystal. The mall was looted, picked clean, but I thought I could maybe find things. I was pretty hungry at this time, and I was trying to find something salvageable in the trash when Crystal said I wouldn’t find anything there. She then led me to an area of the food court where the looters overlooked. It was a freezer, and of course it wasn’t working, but Crystal said it might have something worth saving. The trouble was that the freezer was locked, and we tried to get it open. We kicked it, hit it with a chair, a table, then finally got it to pop open when we dropped it from the second floor, and we were giggling and laughing the whole time.”
“She sounds like she was a great friend,” Joe said, closing his eyes to see the story.
Annabelle sniffed and said, “She was. We became best friends, which is funny. Me an Arab American, and her a Jewish-American. Isn’t that against the natural order?” she said with a slight smile.
“No, if anything, that’s how it should be. Crystal is an odd name for a Jewish girl though.””
“I don’t think it was her real name. I think she picked it. Anyways, we also got good at sneaking around. There were still some people around, and we didn’t know if they were bad or not. Some were just plain crazy. We’d hear them sometimes in the middle of the night, screaming for help. One guy was dragging his really dead wife around, crying for a doctor. We decided to get out of the mall and find a safer place.”
“Did you?” Joe asked, hoping they did.
“Yeah, we did. For awhile. A small house near a grocery store. We were there a few months. It was in the store that I lost Crystal. You see, we found some canned goods that people missed and we were putting them into a bag when they came in. We were taken by surprise by some looters when we snuck into the store. There were three of them. They didn’t see me, but saw Crystal though. She pushed me into a janitor’s closet as they ran for us and caught her. I, I hid there, too scared to move and I watched them. They, they beat her; they beat her until she was nearly unconscious, then they, they, raped her. They raped her! Over and over! Then, then they killed her. They stuck a knife, you know where, and cut her all the way up,” Annabelle said pointing to a spot near the top of her chest, tears streaming down her face. There was so much blood, so much. And they laughed! They laughed as they left, and I hid in the closet, and every time I looked out, I saw her, her body, torn, bloody. I saw her. I saw what they did to her.”
She broke down in heart wrenching sobs and clung to her foster father as if he would slip away, and he hugged her close, his own sobs echoing hers.
Joe closed his eyes tightly; his jaw clenched in rage, and said, “When we found you, you were nearly catatonic. We never saw your friend’s body in that store.”
Annabelle took a shaky sob. “I, I pulled her out when it was dark. I wrapped her in her favorite blanket and I took her to the house we were staying at, and I buried her in the backyard,” then screamed, “I, I should have done something, something! But I couldn’t, I just couldn’t move!” Annabelle sobbed. “I should have done something! I should have hunted them down and killed them!”
“Sweetheart, my daughter, what could you have done? She saved your life, and I know you feel you should have saved her as well. But that is unrealistic. If you tried anything, they would have done the same to you, or worse,” Joe asked, feeling tears run down his face.
“How, how could it have been worse? They killed Crystal, and would have killed me!”
“They could have NOT killed you or her, but kept you around as a pleasure toy.” Joe said with a bitter voice. “There was a lot of that during the Long Death.”
Annabelle went pale as the reality hit, and she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed, finally mourning her loss and helplessness. When she recovered she said, “Someday I hope those bastards get what they deserve! Especially their leader.”
“Really?” Joe asked, a knowing looking coming into his eyes. “Well we did have to take care of some scum in that town you were in when we can looking for supplies, so what did the leader look like?”
Annabelle shuddered and said,” Tall, thin, short hair, a funky tattoo going from his shoulder and up his neck to his chin, why?”
Joe laughed harshly and said, “Sweetheart, you don’t have to worry about those three anymore. Those were the scum we took care of. I took two of them out, but the leader got away from me.”
“Then he escaped?” she asked fearfully.
“Not quite. He made the mistake of trying to take on your mother. He grabbed her from behind and she defended herself.”
“What did she do dad?”
“Karma,” Joe said smiling in a way that chilled her. “She took her knife Puki and rammed it into his crotch, and yanked up, blade facing up. And no, he didn’t die quickly.”
“She, she did?” Annabelle asked in shock, yet felt pleased. Her foster mother surprised her once again. True, her mother had a sweet gentle manor about her, but there was something underlying that screamed dangerous. Now she knew.
“Yup and boy was she pissed. More so at the fact the scum threatened her children. The twins were with us. Afterwards she was in near hysterics, but she was able to calm herself down. Then we found you, and the rest as they say, is history.”
Annabelle took a deep breath.
“Are you telling me the truth, Dad?”
Joe nodded. “Yes. I wish I had known this before.It would saved you some bad nights.”
“Thank you, Dad, thank you,” Annabelle said hugging him tight. “Did me calling you Dad early on bother you at first?”
Joe smiled at her and said, “No, not really. We knew you needed some form of parental guidance and latched on to the first ones who could offer you some form of normalcy. Even at twelve, you were young enough to be resilient.”
Annabelle laughed and said, “You and Mom normal? You two are anything but. But at the time, it was probably the most normal thing in the world. That, and you two were so gentle and understanding. You have a kindness about you.”
“At times, but at times I have to be the opposite.”
“But Dad, when you are, it’s because it’s needed. I’ve never know anyone who goes out of their way not to be cruel. Not even with the faire group.”
“True, true enough,” Joe said smiling. “Hard to believe it has been five years since we found you. It feels as if you been our daughter from day one.”
Annabelle beamed at him, and for one brief second he saw how she must have looked as an innocent twelve year old instead of an aged seventeen year old. Before the die off. “Thanks dad! I feel like it too. Some things of my old family are fading from my memory. If it weren’t for the picture of them that you and mom hung up, I probably would’ve forgotten about them.”
“A sure sign of getting old. Should we serve you minced prunes for dinner? Maybe some applesauce. Have to make sure you get to bed early. You know you old folks are.”
“As if! You’re the one who’s old!”
“Apology accepted,” Joe snickered.
“I am not taking anymore Arabic lessons from you anymore Dad! Maybe from Mom, but not you!” Annabelle said in mock anger, as she hit him over the head with an eel they caught.
“Hey! That’s dinner! If you’re going to hit me with something, try driftwood. We don’t need to tenderize the fish.”
“Augh! Mom’s right, you’re impossible at times.”
“That much is true,” Joe said grinning. “Come, its time to go home before the sun spoils our catch.” With the evening chill fading from their arms, they pulled farther into the rive.
It was mid morning when they finally made their way upriver and pulled onto small beach. From there Joe cupped his hand around his mouth and gave a very realistic Barred Owl call. He repeated it once more, and a minute later they heard a deep gong sound from the house, a few seconds later they were nearly bowled over by a large mutt trying to lick their faces.
“Down Tsuba, down! Damn dog,” Joe said kneeling down to let the dog slobber his face.
Annabelle shrieked as Tsuba tried to thrust his tongue up her nose, and then giggled as she hugged him.
“Hello the river!” they heard from the house.
“Hello the house!” They called back.
Joe went to a brushy spot and pulled back a camouflaged netting and uncovered a wheeled drag sled. He pulled it over and they proceeded to pile on their days catch, while at the same time trying to keep a certain mutt from trying to have an early dinner. With that done, they wheeled their haul up to the house.
There, Kristi greeted them from the porch while trying to hold onto a pair of squirming five year old twins J.T and Marian, each screaming, “Papa, Annabelle, Papa, Annabelle!”
“Hey Love,” Joe said, kissing his wife and taking the twins. “I’ll wrangle them from you while you and Annabelle take care of the haul.”
Kristi quirked a smile and said, “Oh, are we trying to get out of cleaning the fish, oh mighty hunter?”
“Hardly, my love. I’ll be more than happy to turn the twins back over to you and I’ll clean the fish.”
“Don’t you dare! It’s bad enough we have twins, even worse they take after their father. They’re getting into everything.”
Joe laughed, then kneeled down as the twins were squirming to get down. “Hey, it’s the cats fault. He’s been teaching them.”
Just then their orange and white tabby padded out purring and proceeded to greet everyone, then tried to pull one of the fish off the cart with one of his paws. Joe pointed and said, “See?”
“Oh, don’t try to pan this off on Kazuma,” Kristi said laughing. “Even though he is the cat of doom.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll take the kidlings, and you handle the fish.”
“Throw in the cat and dog and you have yourself a deal.”
“Damn,” Joe muttered while smiling. “I knew I should’ve negotiated more.”
While they worked, Kristi asked, “So, how was the fishing last night?”
“It went very well as you can see,” Joe replied playing with both the twins and Tsuba, then getting ambushed by Kazuma. “We did almost run into potential trouble, but we were able to talk our way out of it and discovered that a group needs your help.”
“Hmmm… My help? Not ours?” Kristi said in thought. “Whatever for?”
“I don’t know, but I think cholera, from the basis from what I was able to glean.”
“Cholera? Oh dear Lord, just what we need. Could be worse though, could be dysentery or Typhoid, or God forbid, Plague.”
Joe nodded as he rolled the kids and pets into a pile and said, “That’s what I’m guessing. They heard of you as a great healer.”
Kristi snorted and said, “Really? Oh good grief. I’m at best a mediocre herbalist, but fix a tummy ache and suddenly people think you’re a master healer. So anything else went on?”
“Not much. Annabelle and I had a very good talk about what happened to her best friend, and I think you need to hear it. If you want to tell it again, Annabelle.”
Annabelle stared at the ground for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yeah, I think Mom should hear it too. I guess. I mean, I want to get her opinion as well.” With that, she told it again, again reliving it, but this time she felt protected from the horrors of it with both of her foster parents near by.
When she finished telling it, Kristi was weeping as was Joe, and Kristi then came over and embraced her in a fierce hug. “Oh, my dear child, my strong, strong daughter. I am so sorry you had to go through with that. It shouldn’t have happened; none of this should have happened. Please know that you’re not at fault for what happened. You were only twelve at the time.”
Annabelle hugged her mother and said, “Thanks mom, muta shugran.”
Kristi smiled and in her best Donald Duck voice said, “Aflak!”
“So, what are we going to do now, with that other group that is,” Joe said butting in. “I know we have the means, but I’m suspicious of them.”
“Dad, you’re suspicious because of that drunk making an ass of himself,” Annabelle said and quickly added, “Sorry.”
Kristi smiled and said, “She’s right, we can’t reject people left and right because you don’t trust the world. Granted, it’s warranted, but we still have to help, regardless.”
Joe sighed and he pulled the twins close and said, “You’re right, its just that in a world gone mad, there are people who have gone over the edge with no rules now. They’re like cockroaches. We can’t go in trustingly.”
“I didn’t mean that. I meant that we should at least try to help them, but go in a way that shows we’re not to be messed with,” Kristi replied.
“Good, then I’ll make sure my war knife is displayed quite openly. Maybe wear boiled rawhide armor to boot.”
Annabelle shuddered inwardly. Her foster father was what she hoped for in a father. He was kind, patient, understanding, was willing to put his foot down and follow through with punishment, and a very nice person. But when he put his war knife on; he changed a bit, he grew more serious, colder, and almost wild. It was when he withdrew it when he changed completely. He was not the kind loving gentle father she came to know. He became cold, calculating, and primal. When he unsheathed that knife, he meant business and someone was going to bleed.
Her mind drifted back to a couple years ago to the incident when she saw this fully, up close and personal, and it was fully warranted. She was out gathering some plants for her mother when two guys surprised her asking if she wanted to have some fun. She told them no, and was ready to pull her own knife to fight if needed, but it never came to that. One of them pulled a gun out and pointed it at her and told her to strip. She didn’t know if it was loaded or not, but decided to comply while desperately trying to think of a way to escape.
Only she never got that far. From behind the two guys, she saw her father approaching them quickly, but with no sound, his face a mask of rage. He made no sound until he struck, and it was a snarling roar when he did, the guy with the gun was literally disarmed as his gun hand was severed and dropped to the ground. It was then that her father became something of a dervish, he spun, slashed and hewed his knife with deadly accuracy, and she watched as the gun holder dropped to the ground, his face a mask of shock and surprise.
“Oh shit! You killed him!” His buddy screamed, then ran as her father turned to him growling and gave chase. He never got far as her father overtook him and brought him down.
She remembered approaching, being both concerned and terrified, as she saw her father hunched on the ground raggedly breathing still growling. She remembered calling him, and having him turn away and snarled for her to go away and to get her mother. She didn’t hesitate and ran and told her mother what happened. When she finished, she remembered her mother going pale and picked up some of her vials of medicine and had her lead.
When they got there, she remembered seeing her father sitting against a tree, curled up and his eyes still looking feral and wild, looking around as if there were more foes to fight. Her mother approached him slowly saying, “Sweetheart? Hart? Are you going to be okay?”
Her father blinked at them for a second, then snorted and said, “Sure, hunky-dory, nothing like getting into that primal frame of mind and tearing people apart.”
It appalled Annabelle at her fathers snapping and callous attitude at what happened, but her mother just smiled and reassured her by saying, “It’s okay, he’s going to be fine. If he didn’t say anything, or snarled, then I would be more concerned.”
Her mother approached her father and knelt down and cupped her hands around his face and kissed him and smiled as he pulled her close. She then pulled out a vial for emotional trauma and gave him a moderate dose. With a few minutes the fire went out of him and he just looked drained.
Remembering this, she hoped that nothing like that would happen at that group. It wasn’t him turning into a raging animal that scared her; it was the after effects that hurt the most. He looked worn out as if it sucked the very life out of him, and it took days for him to recover. That’s what scared her.
“So, how soon can you get everything together?” Joe asked, breaking into Annabelle’s thoughts.
“Well, when Doc Garcia came to the MAPS meet, he did say that I made a good batch of blackberry leaf vinegar, and a few other things. I could bring those,” Kristi said in thought, “That should help stop the runs, but I plan on bringing along a good contamination kit when I examine the people until we know for certain what is going on. I think we’ll be able to go first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Good, I really don’t want to head out now, not until we had adequate time to prepare.”
“Love, you mean chew your lip until you worried the situation to death. There are times to go for it, and there are times to plan. This is a time to plan, especially when we don’t know what we’ll be facing.”
Joe nodded and said, “True enough. I’ll make sure everything is ready, for good or ill.”
“Mom? Dad? Do you want me to come too? Or do you want me to look after the twins?” Annabelle asked.
Kristi thought for a moment and said, “Come with us. It will do you good to get out and be with people. That and you can see how things are done. I’ll have the Manyfeather tribe look after them.”
“Great! Um, Dad, which knife should I bring?”
Joe thought for a moment and said, “Bring two. The fighting one I made for you and the stiletto to hide. Just in case.”
Kristi sighed and said, “Doesn’t look like we’ll be getting much sleep tonight. Tomorrow then?”
“Tomorrow.”

Chapter two


“Sea Breeze port in sight,” Joe said, his armor creaking as leaned on the rudder, then adjusted the small sail on their what most people call, what-the-heck-is-that, modified small sail boat that had been modified so many times, it lived up to its name..

“How do you want to go about this, Love?” Kristi replied, dressed in double buckskin armor covered by a cloak. “You said you had something in mind to make them think twice if they had any intention of betraying us.”

“Simple, sometimes presenting oneself as a target is enough to unnerve people.”

“Good grief, Hart. They’re unnerved enough with the rumors flying around about you, and me.”

“Dad, do we really have to do this?” Annabelle asked dressed like her mother, with the exception of having a hijaab covering her armor. “I mean, I understand going armored and such, but why be even more flamboyant? I mean, this morning you asked Mom to bring her bladed staff and for me to bring my scimitar.”

Joe sighed and was silent for a moment, watching the port move closer, and then said, “You remember when James and his friend asked for our help?”

“Shyeah, course I do. I doubt I’d forget that fu-I mean that idiot drunk with him. At least James seemed more sensible.”

Kristi chuckled and said, “Dear, sometimes its okay to curse, and this is one of them. But I am proud that you still want to conduct yourself as a lady.”

Joe smiled and said, “Yes, James seemed sensible, but there’s something more going on. I don’t know what it is, but his drunken friend is a bigot, plain and simple, and I wouldn’t be surprise there would be more in his group. Kinds like that seem to spread…”

“I know, I know,” Annabelle said in exasperation. “Like cockroaches, you’ve said that a million times.”

“Dear, remember this is your father we’re talking about. The same one who would pun you to death under different circumstances,” Kristi said chuckling.

“I know I seem to harp on that, but I really need you to take this seriously. There’s something I sense is very wrong, and as we get closer, it’s getting stronger. Something is not right here. Let’s do what we need to do and get back home.”

Annabelle giggled and said, “Well, if they try anything, we’ll sick Tsuba on them. Tsuba will shove his tongue up their nose and make them scream for mercy. If Kazuma was here, he’d destroy them with his pink paws of doom.”

Tsuba hearing his name perked his ears up and got up. If Kazuma was with them, he would have given a moan and meow of complaint. It wasn’t that he didn’t fear the water, loved it, but there were times he had to act like the furry Republican he was. Tsuba on the other hand, loved making a nuisance of himself, and proceeded to greet everyone.

“Tsuba; lay down,” Kristi whispered. “I don’t need you knocking things over and making a pest of yourself.” With a resigned sigh, the dog curled up near by and thumped the deck with his tail to show he was over looking them.

They were a quarter mile away when Joe got up and said, “I’m going to make a target of myself, but show they’ll have to work for it.” With that he got up, bringing his rifle, and sat cross legged nearest to the bow, making sure his war knife, rifle were easily seen as Kristi took over the rudder and sail.

Soon they saw people standing at the port now, noticing the approaching vessel. Guns and other weapons were taken out in precaution, but Joe quickly noticed something as they got closer. He saw fear and trepidation.

‘Interesting,’ Joe thought then said, “Love, Annabelle, get the ships weapons ready. Our hosts are acting a bit flakey.”

“What? You mean they’re thanking everything under the sun?” Annabelle asked snickering. “Or are they contemplating their navel lint?”

Joe snorted out a laugh and said, “No, they’re not the bush hippies. This is a bit more dangerous.”

“Love, hold that thought, we’re being hailed,” Kristi said, pausing in mounting one of the small scatter cannons.

Joe looked back at the port and saw that most of the people put away their weapons and were now waving their arms; one was waving a white flag. He then waved his rifle in acknowledgement and motioned to move forward.

“You came! You actually came!” James said as he ran up breathlessly and helped bring the boat in. “We weren’t so sure you would, especially with the trouble as of late.”

Kristi furrowed her brow as she disembarked onto shore and said, “Trouble? You mean besides the sickness?”

“Well, no, no that kind of trouble. We’ve just had a couple run ins with pirates.”

“Pirates? Interesting. How come we never heard of this?” Joe asked cocking an eyebrow. “We’re just a couple dozen clicks away from you. Why haven’t we seen any? It’s been a few years since we’ve seen any pirates or Reavers.”

“I, I don’t know, maybe they don’t go as far north as you,” James stammered. “Or maybe they heard of your group and didn’t want trouble. All we do know is that they come from the bay.”

“How far in the bay?” Kristi asked, gathering her gear and getting to shore.

“No one knows, no ones wants to go that far to find out. But we know of a group that is planning on taking care of them. Least that’s what our mayor has told us.”

“I see,” Joe said looking around, “Well, no matter we’re here. We need to see your group’s mayor.”

“Oh course, this way,” James said, hurrying ahead of them.

“Sweetheart, look at what they’re growing!” Kristi whispered in excitement as they followed. “Flax and sheep! I know what I’m going to ask for in trade.”

Joe smiled, “Good, we could use some more cloth,” he said and turned to Annabelle. “Annabelle, pull your veil away from your face. You can have your head covered, but uncover your face. You’re scarring the poodles.”

Annabelle giggled as she pulled it down and picked adjusted her hijaab, then moved closer to her father as she saw distrustful stares and carefully untied her hilt of her sword from her sheath.

They made their way to the town center and already they could tell that conditions for disease was ripe, the air was permeated with the smell of manure and human waste. Smelling this, Kristi let loose an aggravated sigh and muttered under her breath.

James led them to a man in a well made business suit and said, “This is our mayor, Reverend Kenneth Duvall.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed, and Kristi whispered, “Love, O’soy! Let’s not say anything rash yet, okay?”

“Fine,” Joe growled quietly, “But if he gives us trouble, our price has gone up. I can’t believe that religious politicians actually survived.”

“Welcome! Oh welcome to our humble little town,” Reverend Kenneth said extravagantly. “It is truly an honor to have such a respectable group here to help us.

“Yes, thanks for your welcome,” Joe said through clenched teeth. “This is my wife, Kristi and my foster daughter Annabelle. Oh, and the mutt sniffing around is Tsuba.”

The reverend greeted Kristi warmly, but his eyes narrowed when he saw Annabelle and said, “Foster daughter, is it? I would have thought she was your second wife, or at least, your mistress.”

Before anyone could respond, Annabelle’s sword sang out of her sheath and was suddenly resting against the side of the Reverends neck, and a bead of blood slowly seeped down.

“Annabelle!” Joe barked, his hand snapping to his knife. “Stay your hand.”

Annabelle’s dark eyes flashed and said, “Listen here, you sick fuck! He is my FATHER; SHE is my MOTHER. I will not let you dishonor them with your sick perverted innuendoes.”

“Annabelle, stay your hand, now!” Joe barked his voice more so directed towards the Reverend and watched as Annabelle sheathed her sword. “And she is right, Reverend. You’ve crossed the line with that callous remark. I have half the mind to pack up and head back now. To hell with your group.”

“Hart, Annabelle, let me handle this,” Kristi snapped, then in her best diplomatic voice. “Okay Reverend, since you’ve decided to insult us, the price for my services has gone up. I was going to ask for your largest bolt of cloth, but that has now gone up.”

“But, but we need the remaining cloth!” Reverend Kenneth said his face pale and shocked. “We can spare the largest bolt of cloth, but that’s it.”

“Well then, I guess we’re going to have to think of something, now won’t we.”

“S-sure, what ever you need. Just, just don’t hurt me.”

“Coward,” Joe muttered as Annabelle sneered at the Reverend.

“So,” Kristi said calmly, “With that out of the way, show us to your infirmary. We’ll negotiate after we see the scope of the sickness.”

“I can do that,” James quickly said as he handed the Reverend a handkerchief. “Please, follow me.”

As they headed towards the infirmary, Annabelle whispered to her father, “Dad, I think there’s something more to their reverend than him being a bigot.”

“Really? You’re sensing that too?” Joe replied.

“Yeah, I got to lock eyes with him for a second, and there’s something foul within him. He’s not what he wants us to think he is. And there’s something else.”

“What is it?”

Annabelle sighed as the building appeared and quickly said, “Tsuba didn’t trust him. He stuck behind me and kept close while looking suspiciously at him too at first, then his hair rose when he made that remark.”

Joe nodded and said, “Hmmm, I see. Well let’s do what we have to do and get the hell back home. This whole place reeks of corruption, and I don’t mean the manure either.”

They got to a small building that looked to be the infirmary, and as James opened the doors, they were greeted by a stench of human waste and sickness.

“Dear, God!” Kristi choked. “Hart, Annabelle. Put on masks and gloves. Apply thieves’ oil to the masks.”

“Is, is everything okay? Is it worse than we thought?” James asked looking worried.

Kristi sighed as she pulled her inspection and medical kit out and said, “I have no idea, but damnation, what a stench. Will someone take my daughter away from this place?”

“Mom! I’m sure I can handle this, you may need my help!” Annabelle said in protest.

“Annabelle, no! This is too much. I don’t want you to be exposed to anything, and you’re not ready to see the full scope of an epidemic.”

A girl that looked to be around Annabelle’s age rushed forward and said, “I can show her around, if that’s okay.”

Kristi smiled and said, “Yes, please do. She hasn’t been around others of her age in awhile.”

“Sure, that won’t be a problem,” the girl beamed, and then turned to Annabelle. “Hi, I’m Margaret, I’m James daughter.”

Annabelle smiled and said, “I’m Annabelle. Pleased to meet you.”

“Cool! Hey, you want to hang out? There’s not much here to see, but maybe I can show you our livestock.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Go ahead, kiddo. She’s okay.” Joe said smiling and Annabelle gave him a questioning look. “It’s aright; I can tell she’s okay. Besides, it’ll do you some good talking and being with those your age. Not like hanging out with us old farts.”

“Okay, Dad,” Annabelle said smiling. “Thanks.”

“Sweetheart, you’re delaying,” Kristi said smiling, as she put on her mask and latex gloves.

Grumbling good naturedly, Joe led the way into the infirmary, and even through the masks, the smell still assaulted them. Flies buzzed around, and the room felt uncomfortably hot and stuffy, as over a dozen soiled patients moaned and begged for help.

A woman in a nurses outfit rushed forward angrily and said, “Don’t I have enough t deal with?! I thought I said to only allow new patients here. We’re risking more exposure if we allow more people in who aren’t sick. I have no idea what we’re dealing with!”

“Jody, its okay, they’re here to help. These are the Schillings, you’ve heard of them. This is Kristi; she may be able to help.”

Jody hearing the news leaned against the wall and sagged in exhaustion and hoarsely said, “Oh, thank God! I’m completely at my wits end here and completely overwhelmed. Before everything went to hell in a hand basket, I was just a registered nurse, and I have no idea what we’re up against. I can just treat the symptoms as they reset themselves, I can’t seem to get ahead of this.”

Kristi sat down on a chair and said, “I have an idea. Talk to me, share what you know. What are their symptoms?”

Half an hour later, Kristi sighed in relief and said, “Okay, that confirms it, its cholera. I’d rather it be a simple case of ecoli or salmonella, but we’ll take what we have. That’s a relief.”

“A relief?” Jody nearly screamed. “I lost a couple patients to that, and may loose some more, and you’re relieved it’s cholera?”

“I’m relieved because it could’ve been worse, much worse. It could be something viral, which is harder to control. While we don’t have the medicine for this, you do have the means to keep them from getting more dehydrated. Keep them hydrated and their bodies will fight off the infection.”

“We do? Please, tell me!”

Kristi smiled and said, “Tell me, were those blackberry bushes along the hedges I saw coming in?”

Jody looked confused and said, “Why, yes. What do they have to do with helping my patients?”

“Simple, I need you get some people to gather up a bushel of blackberry leaves and then boil them in your largest pot until the water turns nearly black. Make your patients drink a cup of it after each bowel movement. They won’t like the taste, but it may save them.”

“Will it work?”

“It’s the best option we got,” Kristi said getting up. “Now, let’s get cooking.”

Three hours later they watched as Jody administrated the doses, the effects were instantly noticeable. A few required more than a single dose, but by late afternoon nearly all the patients had literally stopped shitting themselves to death.

“Thank you! Oh, thank you! You saved my patients!” Jody said giving Kristi a big hug. “You really are a great herbalist.”

“No, I’m not great, I’m mediocre at best. I just use what’s available, but I do wish we had some modern medicine or maybe usnia,” Kristi said wistfully. “But enough of that. Before I leave, I can teach you some basic herbology to help your group.”

“You’ll do that? Share your knowledge with me?”

“Why not. Knowledge isn’t something to be hidden away or horded. It was a gift to me I can’t sell that which cost me nothing”

As Kristi taught Jody, Reverend Kenneth came up with James and two council members and said, “We can’t thank you enough for your help, is there anything we can do for you?”

Joe smiled and said, “Yes, there is. I would negotiate payment, but I’ll let my wife handle that after she finishes with your health practitioner.”

“But of course! Anything you want, within reason of course.”

“Of course. We have no intention of fleecing you, but we don’t come cheap.”

Reverend nodded and said, “We know, and we were fortunate that your family is as skilled as you are.”

Before Joe could reply, Annabelle and Margaret came up. “Hey, Dad. You and Mom done?” Annabelle said, and glared at the reverend.

“Pretty much, it was cholera as we first thought,” Joe replied. “Your mother is teaching their health practitioner ways to help this group.”

“That’s good. Oh, hey Dad. Margaret’s family asked if we could stay for dinner. I know we were planning on heading back when we were done, but do we think we could?”

“We might,” Joe said thoughtfully. “We haven’t had dinner with strangers in awhile. Let’s see what your mother has to say.”

Just then Kristi came up pulling off her latex gloves and said, “Well, reverend, it looks like most of your people in the infirmary will recover with no permanent affects, with just rest and plenty of clean water However, your nurse and myself are quite worried about a repeat occurrence. Especially when winter comes.”

The reverend sighed and said, “I was afraid of this. We’ve been trying to get rid of this damnable disease off and on for weeks now, and nothing. We’ve boiled the water, cleaned our eating areas, and people still get it. Just when we think it’s gone, it comes back with a vengeance.”

“If you want, I can look into it for you. Hopefully find the source.”

“If you can do that, we’ll pay you anything you want. Just name it!” Reverend pleaded.

Kristi glared at him and said, “Aside from my original price of one large bolt of cloth, we also want your banned books. If you haven’t burned them already.”

Color rose in the reverends cheeks and said, “We haven’t burned any books, banned or not. We’re not savages!” and cast a meaningful glance at Annabelle.

“You look at my daughter like that again, and we will fleece you,” Joe growled. “If you’re going to give someone the hairy eye ball treatment too, it’ll be to me or my wife. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes! But, but, she’s…”

“Muslim,” Annabelle suddenly said. “My mother and father may not be religious, but my dead family was. They are raising me to what they feel is best, and when I come of age, I have the choice or rejecting it or not. But will be my choice and my choice alone.”

“Of, of course. I mean no disrespect,” the reverent stammered. “Some habits are hard to break.”

“And it’s those habits that can endanger your group!” Joe snarled. “Not in this day and age. Things are hard enough as is. We don’t need to bring up old bygones.”

“Love, Annabelle, that’s enough. Let me handle this,” Kristi said, and then turned to the reverend. “Okay, enough dickering around, lets get to payment.”

A pained looked came to the reverends face, but he composed himself and said, “Very well. Your family has earned everything it worked for.”

“Good! I require your largest bolt of cloth and any extra, ALL of your unused and banned books, a pound of your flax seed, and an ounce each of your garden seen, and six of your brooding hens and a rooster.”

“What? You can’t be serious! That’s highway robbery! I could go with your cloth and a bit more as well as the books, but the rest?!”

“Hey, I told you we weren’t cheap, that and your mouth dug you a nice hole,” Joe said smirking, and he heard Annabelle and Margaret snicker.

Reverend Kenneth looked pale and overwhelmed, then color shot up his face and spat, “You’re no worse than those pirates!” and immediately looked like he could crawl under a rock.

“Again, you said pirates. Would you care to elaborate?”

“Look, you don’t understand what is going on here. We need to survive, understand?”

“I understand now. You pay them off. You give them what they want when they come by in hopes that they’ll leave you alone,” Kristi said, her face a mask of outrage. “Yet you make no mention of this to others around you.”

“As I said, you don’t understand.”

“Oh, I understand fully, reverend. You want us to work for our request? Fine! I’ll find you the source of your cholera, and you’ll pay us our request, is that fair?”

The reverend looked shocked, then nodded in defeat and said, “Yes that will be acceptable. Just find the source, take your payment, and go.”

Kristi glowered at him and said, “Good. Now let me examine your water and food processing area.”

They led them to the kitchen and Kristi set about testing the water and surface areas and was perplexed at finding almost nothing.

Shaking her head in confusion, Kristi said, “I don’t understand. Cholera can be found in mostly water and on contaminated surfaces, but both the water and most of the food preparation surfaces are clean, with the exception of a small amount to not cause the problem we’re seeing. You do use bleach to clean the surfaces. So where’s the source?”

“Excuse me!” one of the cooks said as they brought in a basketful of fresh vegetables and a sheet of paper. “We need to catalog what has been brought and get these ready for dinner.”

Kristi started drooling at the sight of fresh vegetables, then caught a whiff of manure, and said, “Hold it! Step away from the vegetables.”

“Uh-oh! it looks like my wife is on a veggie jag and you may loose a finger of two if you don’t back away,” Joe said snickering.

Kristi smiled and said, “Hart, its not that, it’s what I smell.”

“Um, is there a problem?” another cook asked in confusion.

“Possibly. Tell me, what do you use to fertilize these wonderful vegetables?”

“Oh, we use composted mixture of manure and humanure. It is wonderful fertilizer and quite safe, least that’s what we were told.”

“I see,” Kristi said thoughtfully. “Humanure can be safe, when used properly. But if it’s not fully decomposed, it can pose a problem, especially when cholera is involved.”

The cooks sprang away from the table as if the vegetables suddenly turned radio active. “You mean this could be the source?” a cook yelped.

“Not the source, but a carrier,” Kristi replied. “Mind if I take swab?” the cooks nodded vigorously, and she swabbed a cotton ball across a vegetable and put it in her biological test kit she got when she was over seas. The solution changed color and she said, “Bingo! We got a positive.”

“Is it the humanure or manure, love?” Joe asked knowingly.

“Humanure, I believe.”

“Ewww, someone used their waste as fertilizer?” Annabelle said grimacing.

Kristi laughed and said, “Sweetheart, yes, they do, many cultures do. However, prepared improperly, it can cause a problem as we have here.”

“Oh dear Lord! You mean we’ve been infecting ourselves?” the reverend asked in horror.

“It is possible, but tell me. Is this one full collection, or is it from different areas?” Kristi asked in anticipation.

“We collect the manure and humanure from different areas,” the reverend replied. “Each area composts their lot and is collected every few weeks or so.”

“I see. Let me guess, each area is collected each week, but no more than letting six weeks pass for each area.”

“Yes! Our last cast of cholera was about six weeks ago!” reverend said in amazement. “You mean our recent collection contains the source of our headache?”

Kristi nodded and said, “I’m willing to bet, the source is your most recent collection. Can you show me the composting areas?

“Sure, I can have James take you there. He knows more of how they farm then I do.”

“This way,” James said. “This is the area we collect the composted manure.”

As they headed there, Joe said, “It seems that the reverend respects you. Didn’t think he respected anyone.”

James laughed and said, “Well, he does have its moments, but in some ways, I’m the second on command of this little outfit.”

“Really?” Kristi said in surprise. “You seem capable enough to lead this town. How did the reverend get that position?”

“Quite simple really. He was voted in by the townsfolk, though I can’t blame them for voting him in,” James said shrugging.

“Let me guess, he used the peoples fears and hopes to get in?” Joe asked knowingly.

“Yes! How did you know that?”

“Easy. He’s a politician; the same tactic was used before the die off, and I’m sure he also used the threat of pirates as well.”

“Yeah, he used that a lot during his campaigning. Especially after some recent attacks before hand,” James replied. “Well, here we are; the composting area.”

“Great,” Kristi said grumbling, and then sighed. “I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Instead of everything separated, its all mixed together. This is going to make things difficult.”

“Oh, you needed to know where the compost came from?” James asked. “If you do, we keep records of where it came from. Hey, pencil pushing isn’t the only thing that survived.”

Kristi laughed and said, “Oh that is funny! Now, can you show me the paper work of where this compost came from, and if possible, what kind of manure they use.”

After looking through the paper work, they found the locations of where the vegetables came from, and looked at where they where they came from and came up with nothing until they looked at the last residence. It was the only one that used humanure.

“Well, this looks like this may be the place,” Kristi said looking at the address. “If it isn’t, we’re facing something on a worse scale. Let’s go.”

As they got there and stepped onto the walk way, Kristi heard Joe mutter, “Ah, a bush hippie,” and heard Annabel giggle, which wasn’t so far from the truth. Upon greeting them at the entrance was a large wooden carved peace sign painted in a rainbow of colors, and as they got near the residence they caught the smell of incense and hemp smoke.

“Bet you a kilo of pure gold that this is the place,” Joe muttered.

Annabelle giggled and said, “Dad, I’ll bet you a month free from chores that she’s going to be flakey too.”

Joe smiled and said, “Nah, I only gamble if I know there’s a good chance of me winning.”

“Yet you still eat Moms vegetable soup. You know how that affects you, and us.”

“Are you trying to tell me there’s something wrong with my soup?” Kristi asked smirking. “You eat it and I don’t hear you complaining.”

“I’m not complaining about it, Mom,” Annabelle replied. “It’s quite good. It’s Dad and how it affects him.”

“What does it do to your dad?” Margaret asked.

“It gives him the farts the next day, real bad,” Annabelle snickered. “But he doesn’t make any sound. You just notice a cloud of yellow and green death floating towards you to which there is no escape.”

Joe snorted as the girls giggled and James knocked on the door. A few seconds later a grey haired woman in a faded flowery dressed greeted them in a glassy eyed surprise.

“Ah, Milica, this is the Schillings. They’re here to help find the source of the out break of cholera that’s been plaguing us.”

Milica blinked a few times and said, “Oh, yes, yes. Did you find the source? I knew that by not respecting our resources, it would come back to you. Why, my garden has the most luscious plants and vegetables around.”

“Actually, no, we haven’t,” James said quickly to interrupt her rambling. “Your place is one of the ones on our list as a contributor and we need to check your compost.”

“Well I doubt you’ll find any cholera here. Why, my garden is strictly organic. I use nothing but the best humanure to grow them, and as you can see, my garden is the best around.”

“Did you just say what I think you said?” Kristi said, her face going white. “What did you use to fertilize them with?”

Milica stopped looking at a ray of sunlight reflecting off of a broken piece of glass and said, “Humanure. Why, that is the best way to return what we took back from the earth. It helps balance the ecosystem.”

“Not if you poison it from incompetence,” Kristi muttered.

“Hmm? Did you say something?”

“No, no, but we do need to test your composting heap.”

Milica waved them to it and said, “Test away! I’m sure you’ll find nothing there. Organic is the best way to go and healthier for you.”

“Flake,” Joe muttered as they headed to the composting area.

“Gee, Dad. To bad you didn’t take me up on my bet,” Annabelle snickered. “I could use a month off to practice my naval lint gazing.”

“Not now kiddo. Your mother isn’t in the mood right now.”

Annabelle looked at her mother and saw that Kristi’s jaw was clenched, face taunt, and she was marching at a brisk pace to the composting area. It was then, that at the experience of being older, and seeing this before, she decided to wisely not say anything.

They got to the site, and immediately they could tell it was a humanure composting site from the stench. In addition, some of it still looked… fresh… mixed in with older remnants.

“Dear, God! She mixes in fresh humanure with the composted kind?” Kristi said in horror. “She never gives it a chance to fully compost!”

“Excuse me? Is there something wrong?” Milica asked in confusion.

“Tell me. Where do you get your… humanure… and how often do you add it to the compost pile?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I get it from the travelers latrine, and I add it every time it fills up, and it’s about once a week.”

Kristi sighed in aggravation and said, “But you do realize you need to make a fresh batch of compost for each week.”

“Oh, that’s just plain silly!” Milica giggled. “Humanure is perfectly safe. Why, before I came here, I never had any problems.”

“That’s because you were using your own, or those that you knew! When collecting a large batch like this, you need to make sure it composts fully.”

“You just aren’t as attuned to the earth as I am. By adding fresh humanure to the batch, it helps make the compost more nutrient rich.”

CRACK! And Milica stumbled to her knees as Kristi slapped her and everyone jumped. “How DARE you!” Kristi spat. “You stupid strung out bitch! Being in tune with the earth doesn’t mean squat to me! Humanure needs at LEAST six WEEKS to compost to be safe, especially with unknown persons! ANYONE who works the soils should know this! Heaven knows how long this compost heap has been infected.”

“But, but what else am I supposed to use this for then?” Milica blubbered.

Kristi sighed as she regained control of her emotions and said, “Fertilize fruit trees, hedges, just nothing that will come in contact with food for consumption. Even better, make a digester. Get methane from it. Use the methane for cooking and fuel.”

“You know, we’ve been actually talking about that during our council sessions,” James said stepping in. “We just never found a way to provide the means to make it.”

“Well, now you do. I think it will help your group more than using it feed them,” Kristi replied, her anger finally bleeding off.

“Well I want no part of this!” Milica snapped. “You can take all my humanure, but I’m still going to contribute the gardens.”

“Really? And what pray tell are you going to use to fertilize your precious garden without poisoning everyone?” Kristi replied, her anger coming back.

“I, I don’t know. What else is there?”

“Oh for crying out loud! Are you this dense, or are you that stoned? You live near the bay! What do you do with all the small fish you don’t use? Instead of throwing them away, use them! The Natives here used that.”

“Really? Oh, maybe I’ll try that. Hopefully it will work just as good as the humanure,” Milica said happily.

“Yes, and with that said, I want some seeds from your hemp plants and a fresh bushel of them,” Kristi replied coolly.

“You want some of my herbs? Why?”

“Their fibers are very strong, and I’m an herbalist, of a sorts, and we could use it for some of the folks back home with rheumatism as a salve. Even though my husband doesn’t care for them, so you can give them to your mayor as part of our payment.”

“Ah, yes. Well, now that we found the source and have the means to fix it, why don’t we report this to the mayor and join my family for dinner. I promise that our vegetables don’t have any contact with humanure,” James said smiling.

Kristi smiled and said, “Great! It’ll be nice to have dinner that we didn’t have to make.”

“Oh, come on Mom. You love cooking just as much as I do. I bet you won’t be able to stay out of the kitchen,” Annabelle said laughing.

They headed towards the town center and found the reverend deep in conversation with one of the council members, and when they got close they immediately stopped and the council member walked away.

“Well, did you find the source of our scourge?” the reverend said wearily. “I understand you’ve upped the payment even more.”

“Considering what we’ve had to put up with, I’m almost temped to ask for more,” Joe replied tensely. “Or, we can head on back and talk to different communities along the way. Telling them about how this town’s wonderful mayor was cheap and wanted to refuse full payment.”

The reverend glared at Joe for a second, and then quickly dropped his eyes when Joe met his gaze unflinchingly. “I never implied we were going to try to cheat you or refuse full payment,” he replied. “It’s just that you’ll be taking more than we can part with.”

“Somehow, reverend, I doubt that,” Kristi said. “From what I’ve seen, you’ve have enough to spare.”

The reverend was about to protest, when James said, “Ken, she’s right. I know you’re worried about the winter stocks, and we’ve had some bad years, but we’ve done well this year and we do have more than enough for this winter. Even with the pirate raids we’ve had to deal with every so often.”

The reverend sighed in defeat and said, “Fine! You handle their account. I have other business to attend to.”

James shook his head as the reverend stalked off and said, “I must apologize for our mayor’s reaction. He seems to have been under a bit of stress as of late.”

“Really? From what?” Joe asked.

James shrugged. “I don’t know, never told me. I guess it must be personal. But, that’s beside the point; let me get your payment.”

Within an hour their boat was laden down with one and half bolt of cloth, a couple sacks of seed, two boxes full of books, a bundle of fresh hemp and seed, and a cage of a half dozen hens and one very upset rooster who didn’t like a certain dog eyeballing them.

“Holy moley!” Kristi said in awe. “We’ve nearly filled the storage compartment! This will help out a lot of people back home.”

“Well, if you are all set, why don’t you join my family for dinner?” James asked smiling.

“We’d be honored too.”

Back at James home, they entered to the smell of a wonderfully prepared dinner and James introduced his family. “Joe, Kristi, this is my wife Sheila, and of course you already know my daughter Margaret. Sheila, this is the Schillings Joe and Kristi and their daughter Annabelle.”

“Oh, it is truly a pleasure to meet you, it truly is. We have heard so much of you,” Shelia said shaking hands. “But, who is this wonderful dog?”

“The mutt is Tsuba. Don’t let his goofiness and good nature fool you. He has a tongue that can choke the life out of you,” Joe replied warmly.

“Well, please, sit down and eat. It’s not everyday we have guests for dinner,” James said, showing them to their seats.

Kristi took off her cloak and Annabelle her hijaab and hung them on a coat peg near by.

Sheila and Margaret gawked at Annabelle and Sheila said, “My dear girl, you are beautiful! Why do you hide yourself away like that?”

Annabelle blushed and said, “Thank you for your honest compliment. It is part of my religion and culture, it advocates modesty.”

James shook his head and said, “Now I know why your father lets you wear that. There are times I wish my own daughter would do that.”

“Dad!” Margaret said in embarrassment.

“Well, we spent some time in the Middle East and watched their culture, so now you know why Arab men have their women cover themselves in hijaabs. But she only wears this when we visit settlements outside our zone.”

“Well while this is most interesting, we really should think about dinner, it’s getting cold,” Sheila said

They started eating and Kristi said, “Oh, this is wonderful! What is it? I haven’t tasted something like this in some time.”

“Oh, you like it?” Sheila said pleased. “Its pork roast from a pig we slaughtered a few days ago with bacon on top to keep it from drying out.”

She then froze when she saw Annabelle eating and the smile slipped away, and Margaret was looking like a deer caught in the head lights and James looked mortally embarrassed.

Annabelle smiled and said, “Its okay, in this day and age, I don’t think Allah will admonish me for eating this when food is so little and there are people who are hungry. Besides, it was served beautifully.”

James family breathed a sigh of relief and Margaret said, “Annabelle, I am so sorry! I mean, I totally forgot.”

“Margaret, it’s okay. I’m not that strict with my religion, that, and my parents rub off on me,” Annabelle replied smiling.

With that done, they finished up with dinner and helped Sheila put the dishes away and sat down to relax.

“Hey Annabelle, want to go for a walk with me?” Margaret asked.

Annabelle shrugged and said, “Sure, why not?”

“Go ahead kiddo. I think you’ll have more fun than listening to us old farts talk,” Joe said chuckling.

Annabelle put her hijaab back on as well as her head scarf and went outside with Margaret. They walked to a clearing at the edge of town and laid down looking up into the night sky at the stars.

“You know, I don’t know why you wear that,” Margaret said quietly. “I mean, damn! You have a body that most girls would die for and a very pretty face. You can have any guy you want to settle down with.”

“That’s true, but I’m not interested in any guy,” Annabelle replied. “Believe it our not, I’m still pure. My beliefs stress that I should save myself for my future husband, and I agree with that to an extent. But then when I come of age, I may toss that believe aside and cut loose. I don’t know. I just know I’m not ready to settle down yet.”

“Well, what ever you do, keep that cloak on you while here.” Margaret said suddenly.

Annabelle sat up and said, “I think I understand. Even with this on, I saw men here looking at me like a piece of meat.”

“No, it’s not that,” Margaret said shaking her head. “It’s the reverend. He likes to break in the young women here of the town, especially if they marry young, he takes them first before their honeymoon night.”

“What? Did he do that with you?” Annabelle asked in shock.

“No, he didn’t. Its because of my dad he hasn’t done that. He won’t touch the council member’s daughters,” Margaret replied.

“Does your dad know about this?”

“I don’t think so, but I think he suspects, just doesn’t have proof. But the reverend, he’s rotten to the core.”

Annabelle nodded and said, “I know. My family and I have the innate ability to read people, and I sense something wrong with him from the first moment I met him.”

“You just be careful, okay? Don’t let him find you alone. There’s no telling what he’ll do.”


The Reverend Mayor, Kenneth Duvall, quietly made his way up a cell phone tower, carefully looking around for anyone that may see him. He spied James house and sneered at it, knowing the Schillings were there having dinner. That damnedable family. Ever since taking control of this town by conning the townsfolk about the pirates and to keep them safe was to pay pirates off, he was able to fleece them every few months and keep the people in check, no one challenged him. Until now.

“That son-of-bitch! Who does he think he is? Coming into MY town acting all important and demanding I pay him more!” he snarled into the air as he climbed. “His heifer wife and that rag head bitch daughter of his! They’ll rue the day they crossed me! After tonight they’ll all rue the day they made a fool of me!”

While he was in a rage, it wasn’t the real source of his agitation. In truth, he was terrified. For the first time in his life, he felt true fear towards someone. He feared Kristi for being so calm and diplomatic. Joe for not backing down and demeaning his authority, then there was their daughter Annabelle. She terrified him the most. No woman has ever made him this scared, and he knew given the chance, she would kill him without hesitation.

He got to the top and flashed a strobe light towards the bay. He smiled as he saw a reply, and then sent off another burst and made his way back down.

“Now, it begins. The pirates of Tangier Island will take slaves and goods and raze this town to the ground. After that we’ll take over another town when all is said and done. No one makes a fool of me!”


“Annabelle, what is it?” Margaret asked as Annabelle suddenly stood up.

“Listen, can’t you hear it? Diesel engines, coming this way,” Annabelle said, freeing an ear from the head scarf and cocking it towards the water.

“I hear it!” Margaret exclaimed. “Oh my God! I think it’s the pirates!”

“You sure about that? Are you absolutely sure about that?” Annabelle asked in shock.

Before Margaret could reply, a roar of battle cries came from the beach followed a multiple sound of gunfire as it approached the town.

Chapter 3


As soon as the shooting and screaming started, Joe and James family ran out the front door and looked around. “Where’s Annabelle and Margaret?” Joe shouted above the shooting and screams, there was also the unmistakable sound of diesel engines approaching the town.

“They went for a walk after dinner,” James said hefting his rifle. “I don’t know where they went off too.”

“Oh my God! Normally the pirates sound an air horn when they come demanding payment. This time it sounds like they’re not just raiding for payment this time. It sounds like they’re going to plunder everything!” Shelia said in horror. “Where are the girls? We need to find the girls!”

“Love, you take Sheila back into the house. James and myself will look for the girls and see the full scope of everything,” Joe replied, looking around as people ran in haphazard directions of panic.

“Right,” Kristi said her face tight with worry. “And Love, please, be careful. Don’t take any unnecessary chances.”

Joe nodded and called to James as they trotted off.


“Annabelle, we have to get out of here! We have to get back to the house!” Margaret said in terror as the shots started. “The pirates are raiding again.”

“I know, I know!” Annabelle replied sharply. “We can’t just run off blindly. We’ll get ourselves shot or worse, captured! We need to be calm about this and think.”

“Calm? How can you be calm at a time like this? We need to get to safety!”

“Yes! We need to get to safety, but a shit load of good will it do if we panic and get shot or caught! We need to go about this carefully! My mom and dad taught me this from early on.”

“How?” Margaret asked, tears of terror rimming her eyes.

Annabelle sighed and said, “My dad, he taught me how to move in shadows and remain unseen. I’m not as good as him, but I know enough to hopefully get us back to your house. Hopefully our folks will be there.”

Annabelle led them to the shadows and they slowly made their way back to the house. More than once Annabelle clamped her hand on Margaret’s arm as some pirates came close without seeing them. It also helped that Annabelle’s hajab blended in with the night as she stood in front of Margaret

“What are they doing? This isn’t their normal style of raiding. Normally they sound a horn and we give them their payment. What are they doing?” Margaret asked softly.

“Quiet!” Annabelle hissed.

“Annabelle! They’re coming this way!” Margaret squealed softly as some pirates came around a corner towards where they were hiding.

“Girls! Get inside! The pirates are attacking! You need to get inside. Come with me,” the Reverend said quickly as he came out of his house, waving for them to follow.

They quickly followed him inside as he locked the door behind them, then suddenly grabbed Margaret and fondled her breast as he reached around from behind.

“Reverend?! What’s are you doing?” Margaret asked shakily as she jumped away, and then fell to the floor stunned as he backhanded her.

“It’s Captain, you foolish little girl. Reverend was something I used to fool this town into taking me in,” the former reverend said smiling wickedly. “And I would have used this town a little longer if it wasn’t for your friend’s family showing up.”

“Captain?” Margaret asked in dazed confusion.

“Look, we don’t want any trouble,” Annabelle said, quickly putting herself in-between Margaret and him. “We just want to get back to our family. Let us go. We won’t tell anyone what just happened or what you said.”

“I don’t think that will be possible,” the former town leader said, smiling and stroking his chin. “You’ve caused me a lot of grief this day. Ah, but two ripe young women will fetch a nice large sum on the market.”

“”You’re one of them!” Margaret suddenly spat as the realization hit her. “You’re one of those damn pirates!”

“One of them? Silly girl! Didn’t you hear? I’m their Captain! I am the brother to the pirate lord of Tangier Island! All these past raids were my idea to fleece your town and increase our wealth.”

“I knew I was right. There was something sick about you,” Annabelle said, as she started to withdraw her scimitar.

The pirate captain quickly stepped back and pulled out a gun and pointed it at her then Margaret and said, “Ah-ah-ah! I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It would be a shame to mar your pretty face, and body, but I have no qualms of marring my political rivals daughter. Do I make myself clear?” Annabelle glared at him and he smiled and said, “Good! Now, take off your weapon step into that room.”

Sighing in resignation, Annabelle unbuckled her sword and let it fall to the ground and headed towards the room with Margaret huddled next to her. She looked at Annabelle’s face and was shocked to see it completely lacking terror or fear. If anything, her face was set grimly and her eyes were bright.

“What are you up to?” she whispered.

“Quiet! I’m thinking of a way to get us away,” Annabelle hissed, as her mothers past words reverberated in her mind. “Remember, most guys that treat women badly are led around their member and like to feel in control. If you ever find yourself in that situation, let them think they’re in control, then strike using the element of surprise and deceit.”

“Quiet you two! We’re going to have a little fun before we depart,” the captain said smugly.

A pirate came in from a hidden passage way and looked the girls over. “Captain, we’ve taken control of the beach and the areas around it. We expect to have complete control within a few hours and will take everything of worth in this town,” he said. “It also looks like we’re going to have some more slaves to sell off as well.”

“And we’re going to have two more to add in as well, but not until I break these two in proper,” the captain said cruelly.

“But captain! Won’t that reduce their value?”

“Well, yes, it will, but I’m sure we’ll make up the loss with the rest of the loot. Now you two, inside!”

They walked into the room and the captain closed the door and barred it. He then ripped off Annabelle’s head scarf and grabbed her hair. “You’re going to do exactly what I say, little girl. Both of you!”

Margaret looked absolutely terrified and Annabelle copied the look and said, “Of course, anything you say.”

“Take, take off your cloak.”

“Please, don’t make me. It’s against my belief. Please, let us go!” Annabelle said, putting a quiver in her voice while bowing her head in a cowed manor just enough to where she could still watch him, her eyes dilated and heart pounding. ‘Wait,’ she told herself, ‘wait for it, wait for the moment’

“You stupid bitch! I said take it off!” he screamed, and when she didn’t and pulled her arms around her and whimpered, snarled, “Not so tough without your weapon, or mommy and daddy backing you up, are you? I’ll show you, you stupid bitch!”

He grabbed her shoulders and proceed to try to both throw her down and rip her cloak off. Only Annabelle suddenly twisted and threw her cloak up and into his face, then whipped out her stiletto that was set across the small of her back and quickly cutting him behind the knee in a technique her father taught her, then stabbing him into the back of his thigh, then slashed upward as he screamed and doubled over and slashed his face as he did, then kneed him in the face.


Joe and James fired at a group of pirates from the shadows and dropped the majority of them while the rest scattered. They moved along the wall of a building and watched the pirates scurry around like ants on a disturbed ant mound.

“This is not good,” James said breathing hard. “This is by far the largest force they mustered against us. I don’t think they’re just raiding; I think they want to level this town and take everything!”

“Apparently so,” Joe replied, reloading his rifle. “We need to get everyone out of here while we can. If not, this scum will kill everyone here and burn the town to the ground then move on to the next town.”

“I hope the girls made it back if we don’t find them and everyone is okay,” James replied.

“So do I.”


“Do you have anymore weapons here?” Kristi asked as they proceeded to bar the front door.

“No, James has our only rifle,” Sheila replied fearfully as she shoved the dinning table against the door.

“Can you shoot?”

“Well, yes, why?”

Kristi handed her the rife as she smiled tightly and said, “Well, you see. I’m not that great of a shot with my rifle; and like my husband, I prefer to deal with the scum personally.”

There was a pounding at the door and a muffled voice screamed, “We know you’re in there! Come out and face the music!”

Sheila cocked Kristi’s rifle and fired at the door and there were screams soon followed. She looked at the door in shock, to the rifle, then at Kristi and said, “I think I just killed someone.”

Kristi held her bladed staff at the ready and said, “From the sounds, I think you hit more than one. The bullet went through the first one and possibly one more, maybe two. Same thing happed to us at our old home. Some looters tried forcing their way in, and we fired through the door killing five of them just by firing once each.”

“Powerful rifle, packs a kick too.”

“That is why I don’t like it much. I have a bad shoulder and bruised boobs are no fun.”

There was a ramming from one of the windows and the barrier fell away and a pirate poked his upper body through. “They’re in here! It’s just the women! We got women in here!”

He then tried to bring his shotgun up, but it was tangled up in the broken window. Kristi didn’t give him a chance and darted forward and butted him in the face with the butt of her staff knocking him back, then reversed it and stabbed it out and heard the meaty report of the blade striking home followed by a gurgling scream. Sheila then ran over and fired at a moving shadow near by and heard another scream.

“You boys picked the wrong women to mess with!” Sheila screamed out. “One is skilled and the other is suffered from PMS!”

Kristi then doubled over in laughter as she stopped wiping the blood from her stave, and proceeded to laugh even harder.

Sheila gave her a surprised look and said, “But it’s true. You’re skilled and I’m a bit… PMSy.”

Still laughing, Kristi said, “I know, that’s what makes it so funny! Oh man, it would’ve been even better if you said we’re both PMSing. They would have set sail and ran for their lives.”

“Oh, if only it was that easy,” Sheila said smiling for the first time. “Oh, I do hope the girls make it back soon or our men find them.”

“Me too, but I have every bit of faith that our husbands will find them. You’re husband is a good man and quick wit. Mine is the same, but he’s much more skilled in this kind of thing,” Kristi replied.

“Really? We’ve heard of your group up north. They say you guys actually control nearly the entire northern bay and that you have navy and heavy weapons.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say a complete navy, just a few heavy war ships, but it would be more than enough against these pirates. As to heavy weapons, well, we do fine with what we have.”

Sheila sighed and said, “When this is over, and we live through this, I want my family to live with your group.”

Kristi smiled and said, “We’ll see, but I don’t see any reason why your family shouldn’t be accepted.”

“Thank you. It gives me something to hope for.”


“Shit!” Joe screamed as he and James hit the ground as bullets ripped into the wall and ground around them. “You’d think they’d be out of ammo for an automatic weapon by now, or in the very least adequately maintained.”

“Maybe they hit a police station and got lucky,” James replied and grinned. “And we’re lucky they can’t shoot worth a damn, even on full auto they missed us.”

“Barely,” Joe said looking at his arm. “Sonabitch winged me.”

“You okay?”

“I’ll be fine for the most part. Will have another scar to explain, but the worse part will be explaining to my wife why I got shot. Again.”

James peered up and quickly took a shot at the pirate who was desperately trying to reload their automatic weapon. “We’re clear for now.”

“Good, let’s find our daughters. Any ideas?” Joe replied.

“No, but if I have to kick in every door, we’ll find them, even if we have to start with the Reverend.”

Joe grinned and said, “I like your style.”

The made their way to Reverends house and heard a commotion from inside. They tested the door and found it to be locked and simultaneously rammed the door and popped it open and heard the commotion coming from a room. There they found the Reverend covered in blood from wounds to his legs and face, with both Annabelle and Margaret kicking him screaming curses at him.

“Annabelle! Margaret! What’s the meaning of this?” Joe called out in shock.

“The son of a bitch! He’s the pirate leader!” Annabelle spat and kicked him again. “He coordinated the whole thing, the raids, everything! He wanted to rape me and Margaret!”

Joe glared down at the prone semi conscious man and took a deep breath to regain control and said, “James, check the so called reverends records and see what you can find.”

James slowly leveled his rifle at the reverend, his face a mask of rage, and said, “Okay, but if this shit heap tries anything, let me give the final shot.”

As James stalked off, Joe turned to Annabelle who still clenched her stiletto in her hand while glaring at the pirate captain and said, “Annabelle, sweetheart? You okay? Did he hurt you?”

Annabelle shook her head fiercely and said, “No, no he didn’t hurt me, but could have. I did what you and mom told me to do if something like this ever happened to me. I did everything you told me to do to remain calm. It worked, I hurt him. I hurt him bad. I did what you told me to do,” then burst into tears and hugged him tightly. “Oh Dad! He was going to rape us!”

Joe held her tight and stroked her hair and said, “Its okay. I am very proud of you. You kept your cool and played him perfectly and got him to lower his defenses. Even if we don’t find any incriminating evidence on him, he will still be dealt with. I promise you that.”

“Joe! I think you should see this,” James called as he came back. “Now, I’m not a lawyer, but this is damning evidence if I ever did see one.”

“Really? What is it?” Joe asked.

“Damn fool actually kept a journal and catalog about his acts and other shady work. He also lists some council members who are part of his crew and even has a letter from his brother the pirate lord William the black hearted.”

“William the black hearted? You’re kidding me? Sounds like a reject from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.”

“No, that’s what he calls himself,” James said chuckling, and then turned to his daughter. “You okay honey?”

Margaret snapped out of staring off into space and said, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just a little sore. If it wasn’t for Annabelle, it could’ve gotten worse. Where did she learn to fight like that?”

“Oh, that,” Annabelle replied blushing. “My Mom and Dad sorta taught me how to use a knife, my Mom mostly, especially against guys.”

“Well no matter,” Joe said breaking in. “We need to get ourselves back to the house and figure out what to do there.”

“What about him?” James said in disgust as he pointed to Kenneth.

“Tie him up and drag him with us,” Joe replied.

“What? We should put a bullet in him here and now! He’s behind all the towns’ misery,” James spat.

Joe sighed and said, “Believe me; I really, really, want to. But if we do that, we’re no better than him. No, we will charge him, he will be tried, and he will face the penalty.”

“Well, with the evidence, at least there will be no plea bargaining to get him off by saying he had an unhappy child hood or something like that. That God that nonsense died.”

As they made their way out, they heard more gun fire mixed in with yells of defiance and saw locals fighting back and driving the pirates back.

“James!” one of the townsfolk yelled and came running up. “We’re doing it! We’re finally standing up to that bunch! We saw you two fighting and decided to join!”

“So the town is fighting back,” James said in relief. “They finally had enough!”

“Yes, but they’re driving them back to their ships,” Joe said trotting towards the bay. “If they get away they’ll tell their pirate lord what happened, and he’ll come back with a stronger crew, and God knows what else.”

“What the hell are you doing then?”

“I’m going to prevent them from leaving.”

“Dad! I’m coming with you!” Annabelle said running after her father.

“The hell you are! Get your tuckus back to their house and stay with your mother!” Joe said berating her.

“Dad, you can’t do this alone! You know full well it takes more than one person to arm and fire the weapons I’m thinking you’ll use.”

“Kiddo, it’s too dangerous!”

“Yeah? And how is that different from any other day?” Annabelle replied, using her mother’s favorite sayings.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Joe spat. “You would have to use that against me. Okay, we’ll get your mother and bust ass back to the boat.”

James turned to the townsfolk and said, “Can you watch over the Reverend? Make sure he doesn’t get away.”

“Why? What’s going on? What did he do?” they asked.

“He’s in league with the pirates. I’ll discuss this when we get back.”

They hurried back to James home and stopped short when they saw little over half dozen pirates’ bodies scattered around the front door and one of the windows.

James called out and heard his wife respond. “James? James is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me! I’m with Joe and the girls. Is everything okay?” James called back.

“We’re fine, with the exception of some rude guests trying to enter,” Kristi called out. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine for the most part, Love,” Joe replied. “We need to get back to the boat and stop the pirates from leaving.”

“Why don’t we let them? They got a sound beating.”

“Because if they tell their pirate lord what happened and how they were beaten back, he’ll send a larger crew even more pissed off,” Joe replied.

“Oooh!” Kristi said in understanding, “Then it looks like we’ll have to take them out. I really don’t want another repeat of this.”

They quietly made their way to the shore, noticing that the town folk have taken back the town for the most part, but many pirates had torched a lot of houses in retaliation. As they did, Joe led the way, slipping in and out of shadows nearly remaining unseen.

“Holy shit! If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t have believed it, “James whispered in awe to Kristi. “How is your husband able to do that? He almost looks as if he’s part of the shadows and drags it with him.”

Kristi smiled and said, “Its part of his training. He was taught many years ago how to move without being seen. I’m glad he’s teaching our kids.”

They approached the shore and saw the pirates trying to retreat and fight back as they fled, but it was obvious that they were thoroughly routed. Their what-the-heck-is-that boat came into view and they saw two pirates trying to make a getaway on it.

“Oh, the hell you will!” Joe snarled as he pulled his war knife out and ran towards them.

The pirates turned in a panic and drew their weapons. One was a hunting knife and the other was a machete and prepared to fight when out of no where Tsuba launched himself at the pirate with the hunting knife and brought him down with a snarling growl.

The other pirate jumped aside, and then brought his machete up aiming towards the dog, and Joe thought to his war knife, ‘Hate to do this to you old friend, but it’s to protect a family member,’ and slashed upward meeting blade on blade.

There was a loud cracking CRANG as the two blades met, and half of the machete broke where it struck Joes blade. The top piece tumbled away in a warbling metallic sound before sinking into the water. Joe stumbled as it knocked him off balance and the momentum of running, and the pirate took advantage of the opening and used his remaining machete to slash Joe across the stomach.

Joe doubled over with a loud, “Whuuff!” and twisted his body and arched his blade downward, slashing the pirate from shoulder to hip, the pirates ribs making meaty popping sounds as they were hued, the blade only stopping when it struck the hip bone.

Both tumbled to the ground with Kristi screaming, “Hart!” and Annabelle, “Dad!”

They ran over and Joe pulled himself up to one knee clutching his stomach. “Hart, sweetheart, are you okay? Talk to me! Let me see!” Kristi said in fear and concern.

“I’m, I’m okay,” Joe wheezed. “Just knocked the air out of me. The armor took most of the blow.”

Kristi pulled his hands away and saw that the armor saved him from most of the cut, but he had a score line across his stomach that was now bleeding freely. “Oh for crying out loud, Love! Don’t scare me like that! I thought you were seriously hurt! You know you can’t do that in just rawhide armor,” she said in relief.

“Um, Dad, I think you need to call Tsuba off,” Annabelle said, looking at the dog still worrying the pirate. “I think the pirate’s dead.”

Joe coughed and said, “Why don’t you? I’m not up to it yet.”

“I would, but I never seen him so mad.”

“Sweetheart, please try. I need to look to your father,” Kristi said getting a bandage and ointment out.

Sighing, Annabelle approached the dog who was still snarling and worrying the dead pirate and said, “Tsuba, O’soy! Come on boy, he can’t hurt us now. Come on! Good boy!”

Tsuba let got of the ravaged pirates neck still snarling, his hackles raised and teeth bared. He stalked over to Annabelle and snarled and bristled towards the dead pirate, blood dripping from his maw.

As Kristi cinched the bandage over Joes wound, Joe stood up and made his way to the boat. “Love! What are you doing? You’re injured!” Exclaimed Kristi.

“We need to stop the pirates. If we don’t they’ll get away,” Joe said, struggling to get one of the cannons up.

“What can we do to help?” James asked coming forward.

“Help my stubborn husband mount and load the scatter cannon before he makes his wound even worse,” Kristi growled.

Chuckling, James went over and helped Joe mount one of the scatter cannons, while Kristi and Annabelle mounted another one.

“Well, the good thing about this is that we have more than enough ships close enough to choose,” Joe muttered as he watched pirates clamber on to their ships. “Bad thing is there’s so many; we may not stop them all.”

“Which one should we go for Dad?” Annabelle asked.

“As many as we can,” Joe replied. “But first let’s take out their biggest ship, I’m willing to bet that’s their lead ship your wonderful mayor was going to use to escape, and I’m willing to bet his council members are aboard it as well. It’s that yacht with the modified oar holes on the sides.”

“Hart, Annabelle, aim higher than the oars. I think they may have slaves,” Kristi said quickly.

“Why do you call these scatter cannons? Is it because they’re shorter than conventional cannons?” James asked.

“More like a blunderbuss, but you’ll see,” Joe said smiling grimly. “Now, on my mark, FIRE!”

The cannons roared to life and spewed death and destruction towards the yacht, causing their boat to sway side to side from the force. James watched as it looked like a whole section was hit with heavy buckshot followed by screams, and saw the other side of the ship explode outward. Soon after the yacht listed to one side and didn’t move, even with the oars waving franticly.

“She’s dead in the water,” Kristi said peering towards the yacht.

“Reload and fire at will,” Joe said priming the cannon and arming it.

As he did, James saw that it wasn’t just ball bearing shot; it was ball bearings connected to each other with a chain. They weren’t that big, but when fired from a cannon, the effects would be devastating as he first witnessed.

Joe’s cannon roared and he saw a smaller boat take a hit through the fiberglass hull of the inboard. Immediately the ship slowed to a stop and started to take on water. There was another roar of cannon fire as Kristi and Annabelle fired on a converted fishing boat, blowing through the Abeam towards the bow, causing it to quickly capsize.

“Cease fire! They’re out of range!” Joe bellowed. “Damn it to hell! Some are getting away!”

“Love, sweetheart, its okay,” Kristi said soothingly. “I’m sure they’re too terrified to think about coming back anytime soon. That, and think of the stories they’ll tell their pirate lord? It may buy us some time.”

James sighed and said, “Maybe, I don’t know. But right now we need to check up on the town and find any survivors.”

They made their way back and saw a scene of carnage. Both bodies of pirates and the townsfolk were scattered around, many houses were on fire from being set or catching from a neighboring one. They made their way with some of the town folk to the yacht and heard sounds of pain and cries for help from it, and made a horrifying discovery as they boarded.

“Annabelle, Margaret, return to shore,” Joe said quickly.

“Dad, what is it?” Annabelle asked.

Joe sighed and said, “It’s bad. You shouldn’t see all this, but be ready for the after effects.”

Annabelle nodded and said, “Okay.”

Kristi sighed and softly said, “God, what a mess.”

Scattered around the deck were the pirates that portrayed themselves as members of the town council, and pirate parts from the barrage. Some were still alive, though barely. The ones that looked like they’d live the night were taken off, the ones that didn’t were given a mercy killing by the town folks.

As they made their way below deck, they saw that the entire bunk head was gutted out and remodeled to accommodate benches with slaves chained to them to row the yacht when the engine wasn’t engaged.

Even though they aimed higher, a number of slaves were still injured from debris flying around the hollowed out yacht. Those that saw them, screamed in fear and begged for mercy, thinking they were pirates themselves.

“We’re not pirates,” Joe said in exasperation. “We’re freeing you.”

“We’re, we’re free?” one of the slaves asked in complete shock and awe.

“Of course,” Kristi said smiling. “How long have you been a slave?”

“Oh, thank God!” the slave said crying, and there were echoing thanks and tears. “Some of us have been slaves for a couple years. Oh, thank you for freeing us!”

The yacht suddenly shifted and water started to pour in even more. Within a few minutes the yacht would sink.

“Look you can thank us when we’re back on shore,” Joe said quickly. “But in the meantime we need to get out of here! Everyone aboard that’s able bodies, grab a slave and get them to shore!”

Soon every living being was evacuated onto shore, including the wounded pirates. There was a loud outcry as the wounded pirates were ushered onto shore and kept in a loose group, and some of the townsfolk tried to take revenge.

“No!” Joe bellowed. “Don’t do it! We have to do this right!”

“How dare you!” a woman shrieked at him. “They murdered my husband and children! Why show them mercy!”

“People, please!” Kristi said holding her hands up. “Please, calm down! We are showing mercy because we’re still human! What are we? Reavers?” At the mention of that name, silence quickly followed. “Look. I understand, believe me. We’ve fought this scum for years, but to execute them on the spot in cold blood is still wrong. We will charge them. Yes, they are guilty, but we need to still be civilized about this. But there could be a discrepancy with some; some may have been forced to commit those acts. Those that are guilty will face the penalty for their actions.”

This placated the townsfolk and James chuckled and whispered, “You’re good! Ever think about going into politics?”

“Unfortunately, I find myself in the political games back home more and more often. And each time, I’d rather be giving myself a root canal,” Kristi muttered.

“Dad?” Annabelle said her face white and drawn. “Those slaves, their injuries… We, we caused them to get hurt, didn’t we? We hurt innocents!”

Joe took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him and said, “Sweetheart, yes, their injuries were caused by our barrage, but it was unavoidable. We did the best we could to stop the pirates. They were unintended consequences, and we did our best to reduce that risk. This is why I’d rather you see it now, than back on the ship. It was much worse. That is the evil of war, innocents always get hurt.”

Annabelle hugged him fiercely and said, “Oh, Dad! I wish things could go back to the way they were when I was twelve. At least we had police and other law enforcement that could handle this.”

Joe smiled bitterly and said, “So do I. Unfortunately we’ve been placed into that field of enforcing the law. But maybe someday, someday things will stabilize, but I doubt it will ever be the same.”

As things finally calmed down and the majority of the fires were put out, the wounded were patched up and taken into homes where they could rest. The exception was the pirates. They were bound up and set down in the down square.

Joe came up to James as he glared at Captain Kenneth who was once the towns’ beloved mayor and reverend. The pirate glared back, his cuts stitched up as his other wounds to keep him from bleeding to death.

“I guess this officially makes you the town mayor,” Joe said mirthfully.

“Yeah, no thanks to this scum,” James muttered.

“You fools! When my brother hears of this, he’ll take his revenge out on you and this town!” the pirate spat.

Joe kneeled down on one knee and peered into the pirates face and gave a feral grin. “Really? I can see your brother going after this town, even after what happened, but my group’s base?” he said grinning. “I’d like to see him try.”

“Fool! We’ve been planning on taking on your group for some time now! We were just biding our time. Now we have an excellent opportunity to wipe you all out!”

“Really? And just pray tell how will you do that? We know you’ve heard of our defenses.”

The pirate captain sneered and said, “Pure rumors I am sure! There is no way you can have a navy as big as we heard. Besides, it wouldn’t matter. We have ourselves a cutter! An actual military boat!”

“Oh my God!” James said in horror.

Joe snorted and said, “Really? Well I do hope so. We have a Lieutenant Colonel Marine who would be very disappointed if that proves to be false. The MPVSG will be ready for it.”

“They exist?” James asked in shock. “I though the Maryland Pennsylvania Virginia Survival group was something of a rumor I’ve heard of over the years.”

Kristi smiled and said, “Of course they exist. You’re talking to members from back before the Big Death.”

Before James could speak, Joe said, “We’ll discuss this later. Meantime, don’t you have a trial to attend too?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, but what are you going to do now?” James croaked.

“Me?” Joe asked smiling. “I just need to make a call.”


Joe came back half an hour later to James collecting pieces of paper and making a speech of how they need to be civilized, and while society as a whole has taken a major blow, they need to be civilized if they’re going to rebuild.

“So what’s going on?” Joe asked smiling. “Am I late for the pep rally?”

Kristi laughed and said, “In a way. They just tried the pirates, offered clemency to those if they were forced to do what they did or not.”

“And?”

“Well, there were six cabin boys that have been separated from the pirates and will be dealt with later. For the rest? The town was pretty much told to procreate with themselves.”

Joe shook his head and said, “So aside from the boys, I guess the verdict is guilty then.”

“Yes, unanimously,” Kristi replied. “Especially for the former reverend mayor. He made no attempts in denying it.”

“I see, and what is the penalty?” Joe asked sighing.

Kristi was silent for a moment and said, “For the pirates, death immediately. They are building the gallows now and they’ll be hung tonight.”

“Smart, ammo is in to short of a supply to shoot them. And the reverend?”

“Public hanging first thing in the morning. The town wants him to see his crew executed and to think about what he did.”

“I want to see him hang!” Annabelle suddenly spat.

“Annabelle, no. You really don’t want to see that,” Kristi said gently, and Joe voiced his agreement.

Shaking her head fiercely, Annabelle said, “Mom, Dad. Please, I need to see this!”

“Sweetheart, why? Why do you need to see this? To what purpose?” Joe asked.

Annabelle was quiet for a moment, then looked them in the eyes and said, “Because I didn’t see the bastard who killed Crystal die. The reverend is just like him, and I want to see him die!”

“Be careful with that hate, daughter of mine,” Kristi said strongly. “If you let it have any control, it will eat at you, make you hate even more until you are incapable of love. While I do agree with you, I must tell you the dangers of hate.”

“Your mother’s right,” Joe added in. “However, if you’re going to hate, make it a pin point focus on the main target. To make it any broader is to endanger innocents.”

“Like the slaves on the yacht,” Annabelle said softly.

“That image haunts you?” Kristi asked, and then said, “Good! While they weren’t victims of hate per say, they are good visual of hate out of control. Imagine if we didn’t adjust our aim, but shot with hate. Those slaves we rescued may not have lived.”

“I understand, but I still want to see the reverend hang,” Annabelle replied.

“Very well,” Joe replied. “We’ll let you see the pirates get executed tonight and see if you still want to see the reverend hang.”

They didn’t have to wait long. Within an hour of the trial, the pirates were led to the makeshift gallows. The only fortunate thing was that it would be large enough to hang the remaining pirates at once.

Annabelle stood next to her parents, her feelings a maelstrom of conflict within her. Part of her really didn’t want to see this, while another part wanted to from seeing the injustice at what they did. Another part of her wanted to put them in prison and forget about them. She looked at her father and saw neither joy nor compassion, just disgust. “Dad? You okay?” she asked.

Joe sighed and said, “Not really. This whole thing sickens me. I agree with the set standards that they need to be executed, but the warrior part of be believes they need a fighting chance. But then I remind myself the pirates are not warriors. They’re another form of Reavers. Still, I never developed a taste for mass public executions. It reminds me too much of the Middle East where they did/do things like that.”

Annabelle was about to reply when she heard, “For the capital offence of mass murder, pillaging, rape, and arson. You will all hang until dead. Executioner, RELEASE!”

There was a thunderous bang, and Annabelle stared in horror and fascination as the platform dropped from beneath the pirates and were mercilessly hung. There was the retort of necks snapping with the addition of those that didn’t, and those that didn’t, gurgled and wheezed thrashing a moment before stilling.

She quickly turned away and felt blood rushing to her head and bile rising in her throat, then bent over and vomited. Never did she dream it would be like that. It was horrible, but it was a necessary evil. The town had no choice. The pirates came with intent of leveling the town; they wouldn’t have shown the same restraint in taking prisoners, only worse. But it still horrified her at how inhumane it was; even though the pirates gave that right up to be treated humanely with their actions.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw her mother looking at her in concern. “You okay?”

Annabelle nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ll, I’ll be fine. Honest. I just didn’t, didn’t expect it to be like that! It doesn’t seem civilized.”

“It never is,” Joe said in a tired sigh. “In the old days, some of the pirates could have been rehabilitated, maybe, but now. Now they need to be put down like monsters they are.”

“They are,” Annabelle said. “They are monsters. I have to remind myself of that. Remind myself of what they could have done to this town, to me and Margaret.”

“Good,” Joe said. “But you also need to do the what if scenario as well. What if I’m wrong? You need to way all options before making a judgment like this. In the pirates case however, it was pretty much obvious.”

“But what about times when it is not so obvious or when all the choices are bad? What if my only choices are, well, evil?”

“In those situations, moral judgments like good and evil cloud the decision. That is where the Warriors Creed is useful. You chose the least evil, the one that protects th