Healers (19 page)

Sam slowly stood up, confused as to just what had happened, but furious to find the little Hyllis shit orchestrating it. He glanced at the man who’d been going through his pockets, astonished to realize the man was trembling with wide eyed fear.

Wondering what the man was afraid of, Sam turned to follow his eyes. He assumed he would see someone else standing behind Tarc. Someone Sam had failed to notice when he first looked that direction.

No one else was there!

He looked back at the crouching bandit. The man’s eyes were definitely on Tarc. Sam’s eyes drifted to the other three bandits, wondering what had happened to them. The bandits’ leader lay face down, a few feet closer to Tarc than Sam himself. Another bandit lay prone right beside Sam. Neither were moving.

Sam turned slowly to look at the bandit behind him. That one lay on his back, still quivering and twitching.
He had the hilt of a throwing knife sticking out of his left eye!

Sam’s stomach did a sudden flip-flop. He reached out a foot and lifted the shoulder of the bandit lying beside him. When the shoulder got high enough, the man’s head tipped over to expose the hilt of a knife protruding from his eye as well.

Sam’s eyes rose to find Tarc on one knee, working a knife out of the bandit leader’s eye. Tarc’s eyes were on Sam and Sam suddenly realized Tarc didn’t look afraid at all. Sam’s mind flashed back through their previous interactions. The kid had let Sam yell at him, and shove him, and tower over him. Sam had assumed he
must
be frightened for his life, but Sam realized queasily the kid had never
looked
afraid.

Not at all.

White faced, yes, but white faced and trembling in a way that
could
have been anger instead of fear.

Bowels watery at the thought of just
who
he’d been threatening these past days, Sam said, “
You’re
the one?! The one who killed all those soldiers in Walterston?”

“I’m not proud of it,” the kid said evenly, giving Sam a wide berth as he walked around to pull a knife out of the eye of the bandit behind him.

“Holy shit!” Sam breathed, knees folding so abruptly his butt thumped down onto the ground. His head felt light and his ears rang.

Keeping a careful eye on Sam, Tarc came over and knelt at the body of the bandit right beside Sam. With a tug, he pulled the knife out of that man’s eye also. He wiped it on the bandit’s sleeve. Deftly cutting a bit of cloth from the dead man’s clothing Tarc stepped away. He used the rag to carefully clean the three knives. He paid special attention to the junction of the knife and its tang. His eyes remained focused on Sam.

About the time Sam felt like he had his equilibrium back, the kid said, “What’re we going to do about them?” He nodded at something behind Sam.

Sam looked where Tarc’s eyes were pointed and saw he was looking at the fourth bandit, still crouched as if trying to look small and unobtrusive. Sam shrugged, “Kill him. That’s what’s normally done with highway men.”

The kid frowned and shook his head. “No killing. There must be something else we can do?”

Incredulous that someone who’d just killed three men in a few seconds had any concern about killing another one, Sam said, “We can’t just let him go!
They
would have killed
me
when they were done.”

“I don’t think so, or they would have killed you before they tried to go through your pockets. It would have been easier.”

“Still, we can’t let them go,” Sam repeated.

“Can’t we… turn them over to the guardia? I hear Realth’s always hungry for new slaves and I’ll bet they have a set sentence for robbers. Being a slave would be better than being dead, I’d think,” the kid said, looking speculatively at the man crouching near Sam.

Sam looked at the man and saw what appeared to be a mixture of fear, apprehension, and relief in the man’s eyes. Sam shrugged and said, “Okay.” He stood and picked up his sword from where it leaned against a log. Strapping it on, he looked about for something to bind the man with.

A man stepped a little unsteadily out of the brush at the edge of the tiny clearing. He looked as if he were punch-drunk. Sam recognized the archer who’d been there when the bandits first captured him. Sam and Tarc’s heads had immediately turned towards the newcomer, but then Tarc said, “Stop!”

When Sam looked at Tarc, he saw Tarc now had his eyes on the previously crouching bandit who’d been going through Sam’s pockets. When they’d turned toward the archer, this bandit had apparently stood up and started to creep away. Sam had no idea how the kid had known the bandit was trying to escape.
Must have expected him to try to get away,
Sam thought. The escaping bandit raised his hands as he dropped to his knees, trembling. The man looked like he might shit himself!

The archer appeared to be as astonished as Sam felt. Sam saw his eyes dart from one to the other at the three bodies, then to the kneeling bandit. Presumably he saw something frightful in the kneeling bandit’s eyes, because he dropped his bow and raised his own hands.

The kid stepped over, deftly unstrung the bow, and used the string to bind the bowman’s wrists behind his back. Sam bound the wrists of the kneeling man. Then he went through the man’s pockets, taking back a few of his own possessions as well as the man’s knife and some extra coin from the man’s pockets. Sam looked up, wondering where Tarc had gone. The kid was no longer in the clearing!

Sam wondered if the kid had just taken off and left him to deal with the two bandits. Tempted to just kill both of them, instead Sam just glared at the bound and weaponless bowman and said, “Don’t move!” Next he crouched and went over the dead bandits, collecting more knives, coin, and a few bits of jewelry.

Tarc reappeared, leading
another
man with his wrists bound behind him. Tarc led him up beside the bowman there in the clearing and told him to stay put. Turning to Sam, he said, “There’s one more, I’ll be back with him in a bit.” Tarc exited the opposite side of the clearing and disappeared into the brush again.

Sam turned to the bandit who’d been kneeling through all this. “Is there really one more?”

The bandit nodded.

“And that’s
all
of you?”

Another nod.

How did the kid know there was another one?
Sam wondered.
And
just
one?

“And he’s off in that direction?” Sam said pointing after Tarc.

“Yes sir.”

Sam just shook his head.
Uncanny!

It took longer this time before Tarc returned with a confused looking bandit, but return he did. Apparently this bandit was also a bowman as Tarc had bound him with a bowstring as well. He added one more low-quality bow to the stack they had their in the little clearing. Looking at Sam, he said, “Do we need to bury the dead guys before we go back?”

Sam shrugged. “If we’re taking the rest of them to the guardia, I think we have to assume the guardia might want to come back and look over the dead ones.”

Tarc looked like he hadn’t considered that possibility. He appeared to be upset by it and motioned Sam to come with him off to the side. “I don’t want the guardia finding them with wounds in their eyes,” he said.

Surprised, Sam said, “Why not?”

“I don’t want… people thinking I’m some kind of killer!” Looking a little sullen he shook his head, looking off into the distance, “I’m
supposed
to be a healer,” he whispered.

Wide-eyed, Sam said, “What else are they going to think when you come back to Realth with four bandits as prisoners and tell them there’re three more
dead
bandits out here in the woods?!”

“
You
take the bandits in as prisoners. Tell folks you came up on them trying to rob
me
but you got the drop on them.” Tarc shrugged, “You
want
people thinking you’re dangerous!”

Sam blinked a couple of times, “You want
me
to take credit?!”

Tarc nodded.

Sam barked a laugh, “Well then, you lead our captives back to the road. I’ll lag behind and stab these bodies a few times with my sword.”

Tarc considered this for a moment, then said, “Okay, thanks. You’ll keep my secret?”

Sam lifted an eyebrow, “If I’m going to take credit for capturing these guys I’ll have to.”

Tarc thanked him! Sam found himself again thinking of the kid as some kind of wimp, then reality crashed back in. He reminded himself this kid was
by far
the most dangerous killer he’d ever even
heard
of, much less actually known. Someone who could throw a knife so accurately he hit people in the
eye
,
every
damned time. Someone who’d just killed three men in a matter of seconds! Sam flinched away from Tarc a little, then steadied himself.
I need to man up!

Sam stayed behind to stab and slash the bodies a few times while Tarc led the four bandits away. When Sam got back to the trail, Tarc turned the prisoners over to him, saying he had to go back for his horse and its load of wood.

Shaking his head, Sam led his prisoners out the trail towards the merchants’ plain.

***

Kazy looked around, “Where’s Tarc?”

Daum grunted, “He went for wood.”

“But hasn’t he been gone a long time?”

Daum’s eyes lifted, then he straightened and stared off towards the woods at the edge of the merchants’ plain. “Yes… he has.”

Someone appeared at the edge of the woods on the path Tarc normally took to the woodcutter’s. Daum and Kazy hoped briefly it would prove to be Tarc, but rather than being followed by a horse laden with wood, the first man out of the woods was followed by four more men, all shambling along walking oddly.

No horse.

No Tarc.

Kazy watched Daum fidget for a minute or two. She felt relieved when he said, “Let Eva know I’ve gone to check on Tarc.” He picked up a saddle and went after Blackie.

Kazy felt uncomfortable giving Eva possible bad news. However, after hesitating for a few minutes, she approached. “Eva, Daum asked me to let you know he was going to check on Tarc.”

Eva turned sharply to look towards the woods and Daum’s broad back as he rode away. She closed her eyes for a moment as if to calm herself, then opened them and smiled brightly at Kazy. “I’m sure he’s okay,” she said, though Kazy thought she was comforting herself as much as she was reassuring Kazy. “Can you slice some more bacon?”

“Sure,” Kazy said, glancing at Daussie. Daussie also eyed the woods with a worried look on her face.
Why do they let Tarc go off by himself? Even if they didn’t know how dangerous the woods could be before they started their caravan life, surely they know by now! In most families, the father would make the dangerous trips. It’s almost like they think Tarc’s expendable, or they imagine he can protect himself as well as a full-grown man!

As she sliced bacon, Kazy frequently glanced up toward the wood. When the five men who’d walked out of the wood were getting close, Lizeth, the girl guard, trotted out on a horse and spoke to the man at the back. Kazy looked more carefully and realized the four men in front were walking funny because they all had their hands tied behind them. It looked like the last man in the file of five had on the dark leathers of one of the caravan guards. She wondered what could be going on.

Lizeth wheeled her horse and rode off toward the woods herself.

A sick feeling rose in Kazy’s gut. Lizeth was a caravan guard, why would she ride toward the woods unless one of the caravaners might be in trouble there?! However, before Lizeth reached the woods, Daum and Tarc appeared. Daum still rode Blackie, while Tarc led the bay horse burdened with several bundles of wood. Lizeth rode up to them, leapt down off her horse, and gave Tarc a big hug!

As Tarc exited the woods with his father, he saw Lizeth riding toward them. For a moment, he wondered where she was going, but then it became obvious she was headed toward him. She rode up hard, reined to a hard stop and leapt off her horse, throwing her arms around him.

A dream come true, to have Lizeth’s arms around him, but he hadn’t pictured it happening in front of his father. He patted Lizeth’s back clumsily while darting a glance at Daum to see how he was taking this.

Daum was smirking.

Lizeth pushed Tarc back to arm’s length, “You’re okay?!”

Tarc nodded slowly, uncertain as to what Lizeth knew.

Lizeth said, “Sam said you were captured by that group of bandits?”

For a moment, Tarc wanted to tell Lizeth what had happened. He had assumed she would know, after all she had figured out that he’d freed Walterston and rescued the girls from the raiders. Surely she would immediately realize what had actually happened back there in the woods. And,
she
thought dangerous men were sexy… But, he didn’t want to be thought of as a dangerous man. In fact, he‘d
asked
Sam to lie about what had happened in the woods for just this purpose and he should be pleased rather than disappointed Sam had sold his story so well. “Yes,” he shook his head as if in relief, “I’m really lucky Sam happened along when he did.”