The Beacon: Excursion (3)
Episode 17: "Confrontation"
With his hands behind him, Adon stood with Ren and Mast, weapons still sheathed, at the center of the changing station’s dirt yard, looking east at the approaching dust cloud. Slinging his quiver across his back, Mat hastily strung his bow and, using Mast’s wagon, climbed up to the station house’s roof. An arrow already fitted to his bowstring, Bandrick, standing at the tail of Artema’s wagon, scanned the eastern horizon.
Earlier, the captain had ordered the women inside and into the cellar. Artema had argued that she could fight like a man, but a stern look from her father quashed the abortive debate. With a low “Aye, captain,” she hustled around the house, Mia in tow.
The riders approaching the station were markedly closer, coming at a rapid pace. Adon could tell they rode in a column, two abreast, but he could not see enough detail to identify them. Peering through the fading light of evening, he tried to tell if they wore uniforms, but his older eyes failed him.
“Mat!” he called up to the young man. “Are those horsemen wearing uniforms like soldiers?”
Mat took a step toward the roof’s edge and took a long look at the advancing riders. “No, captain! They are dressed differently from each other. No pennants either.” Then he added, “They’re not Leitani, sir! They’re Margonni!”
“How many?” Ren asked, unconvinced that they were not a threat.
Mat looked again. “A dozen, I think,” he called back.
“Stay sharp!” Ren called. “Let’s hear what they have to say before we count them friend or foe.”
The riders entered the yard a few minutes later, halting their mounts at a hand signal from the leader, a man upwards of three-score years with white hair falling to his shoulders. He wore thick cotton pants of a dark color, a blue shirt, and a wide-brimmed, leather hat the color of sand that many farmers and ranchers had adopted for working on the often sunny plain. Several of the men behind him wore a variation of it. A few had similar hats made of woven straw. The old man leaned on the pommel of his saddle as he looked down at Adon and the men beside him.
Adon nodded in greeting. “Good evening,” he said. “I’m Adonis Santinetta, here on the king’s business, and this is my crew.” He pulled out his commission, and Ren took it and carried it to the riders’ leader. “We left The Corner this morning, heading back to Palisade. As we approached, we saw smoke and hurried here. We arrived less than an hour ago to find the stable completely aflame and four men dead. The station’s women are safe inside the house. All the riding horses were taken.”
The old man squinted toward them, either because the sun hung low in the sky or he doubted Adon’s story. “Who would do such a thing? Bandits? We’ve had no problem with bandits for a long time. King Alfons’ troops cleared ’em out when I was a young man, and few have dared going outlaw since.”
The captain grunted in affirmation. “I remember. My father told me about it when I was a boy because he participated in the operation. He was a captain of the King’s Guard and led some of those troops.”
“Your father is Mardans Santinetta?” the old man asked.
Adon’s eyebrows rose. “You know him?”
The man shook his head. “Never met him, but everyone back then knew the King’s Jester, and we knew he led the force hunting the bandits. My pa said they never had a chance.”
The captain smiled. “Back then, he was a force of nature, sure enough,” he said. “When I see him next, I’ll let him know he’s remembered out here.”
“He’s still alive?” the old man said, incredulous. “He’d be what eighty, eighty-five?”
“He will turn seventy-eight next month,” Adon replied, “and wishes he could still do the job.”
The old man dismounted with deliberate care and returned the commission to Adon himself, shaking his hand. “I’m satisfied you are who you say you are. I’m Geb Kilbuck. I own a ranch east and south of here. A hand gathering runaways saw the smoke and rode in to tell us. I gathered my men and picked up a few others on the way.”
His men dismounted as well, tying their horses to a nearby fence. Seeing the station’s well not far from the wagons, most of them wandered over to it and helped themselves. Two who stayed bore a strong resemblance to the old man, who confirmed they were his sons, Lael and Peri. They stood near their father to listen to his conversation with Adon.
“So, you told us what you found,” Geb said, thumbs in his belt, “but I’d like to know what you think happened and who did it.”
“We know who did it,” Adon replied, “and have a good idea of how and why. The kingdom is facing a Leitani uprising, and what happened here is part of it. If you’ll notice, the stationhouse door has a word scrawled on it in blood. It says ‘Genubah,’ the name of a Leitan who was once a cavalry sergeant under Marshall Telsiora. He tried to kill me on our trip out here, and we fought him off. He struck here to steal horses and, I believe, to retaliate against us.”
“Rebellion!” Lael Kilbuck exclaimed. “Why would they do that? They’ve never had it so good!” His brother nodded in agreement.
“It’s true we have good relations with the Leitani out here,” Geb said. “And we pay them the same as the Margonni we hire. Is there something we don’t know about?”
The captain scratched the back of his neck. “Have you experienced any strange waves rolling through the countryside or heard about them?”
“No, can’t say I have,” the old man said, brows tightening.
“I have!” Peri Kilbuck said. “A few customers and the shopkeeper were talking about something like that when I went to the General Store last week. Some ranch hands have seen them in the distance, but none have been close. But that’s how they described them, like a slow wave flowing through the grass, even against the winds.”
“Well, there’s more to ‘em than that,” Mast said, chewing on a toothpick. “When they roll over you, they make you go plum crazy—make you do wicked things. Some have died. Some suicides. Lots of theft, arson, and beatings. Once the wave passes, people come to themselves and have to face the consequences of what they did under its influence.”
“That’s bizarre!” Lael said.
Adon cleared his throat. “We’re beginning to suspect the waves and the Leitani uprising are somehow connected, but we can’t say how. There must be some link between them.”
The Kilbuck men shook their heads in amazement. Finally, Geb said, “It’s hard to fathom.”
“It’s the truth,” Mast answered gruffly, “plus our speculation on it. We’d be happy if you had a better explanation.”
“Before you arrived, we were planning to gather the bodies for burial,” Adon said before Geb could respond. “Bandrick over there planned to ride to the next station tonight to send a message to the king about what happened here. The thing is, we need to get back to Palisade as quickly as we can to report our findings to the king, but I don’t want to leave the station unmanned, either. Could you help us?”
The old man rubbed his chin, considering. “Do you think the Leitani bandits will be back?”
Adon grimaced. “I can’t be certain. We think Genubah and his band have been shadowing us for much of the day, and I suspect they will continue until we reach the Thirty-Mile Station. I doubt they’ll strike twice here. They got what they wanted.”
“In that case, I can leave Lael and a few hands here to keep the station running for a few days,” Geb said after another minute of thought. “They can protect the womenfolk and change out the coach horses. If we all pitch in this evening, we can get these poor men in the ground before long.”
“I appreciate your help,” the captain said, relief suffusing his features.
“I’ll get some grub on to feed this lot,” Mast said over his shoulder as he walked toward his wagon.
“Food sounds good,” Geb said with a grin. “Afterward, I’ll send a few of the boys back so they can begin spreading the news about Leitani bandits in the area. We don’t want our neighbors ignorant of them.”
“I’m sure the army will be out here in a few days to sweep the countryside,” Ren said, “but that’s the best idea for the meantime.”
A moment later, Artema led the women around the corner of the house, Mia trailing behind and splitting off to join Mast and see if he needed any help. As soon as the other three women saw the body of the man in the yard’s center, they wailed and rushed to him. Heedless of the blood-soaked dirt, the oldest of them, clearly the man’s wife, knelt and cradled his head in her arms, rocking in boundless grief. The younger two, wide-eyed with shock, noticed the other body, the young man who had been shot in the back. They fell on their knees next to him, shaking with wracking sobs. Artema squeezed between the two teenage girls and held them both close.
The men took off their hats in sympathy. Geb waved over some of his men and, in a low voice, ordered them to bring the other bodies to the yard. Bandrick accompanied them to show where the fourth body lay. Sauntering over to the stricken matron, Geb crouched beside her and said, “Our condolences, ma’am. He was a fine man.”
She nodded her thanks but said nothing. Geb rose on creaking knees and looked around at his men, waving them over. “Find some tools to dig with and a nice spot for four graves,” he said in a hushed voice. “Even if the ladies don’t want them buried right away, we can still have the holes dug.” He sighed, returning his hat to his head. “I hope the shovels weren’t in the stable that burned.”
A note:
Their visit to the Sixty-Mile Station turned out well for both the Kilbucks and the stationmaster’s family. Afterward, the ladies recuperated at the Kilbuck ranch for several months, where they soon found employment. It did not take long for Peri Kilbuck to become enamored of the elder of the stationmaster’s daughters, whom he married the following spring. A few years later, the younger daughter married one of the ranch hands while their mother lived comfortably, keeping the large ranchhouse and enjoying her grandchildren for many years.
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