Lisa's Way

  Fortunately nature wasn’t the least bit silent. Lisa knew that was important. She remembered from the journey to Southport that the wilderness quieted down when humans were nearby. In that way their silence wasn’t so terrible. It allowed her to listen to woods.

  Sure enough, the woods told her what she wanted to know. She nudged Little Wolf and cupped her ear. He listened, then nodded. He casually lowered his right hand to his side.

  A few moments later a dozen armed men charged out of the woods on either side of the wagons. Lisa brought hers to a halt. The other two stopped an instant later. An older man and a young teen crossed from Little Wolf’s side of the wagon to Lisa’s. The older man pointed at Lisa while looking at the kid.

  “Is that her?” he asked the kid.

  “That’s her.”

  The man turned to Lisa. “You Lisa Herbert, that off-world girl?”

  “Yes.”

  “We hear you’re taking goods to Butler. I think you and your friends ought to give them to us instead.”

  She glanced backward at the canvas covering the wagon bed. “You want to see what we’re giving them?”

  “I guess.”

  Lisa nodded to Little Wolf. He jumped off the wagon and walked around to the back. Lisa turned around. Alek got off the second wagon to help Jane. Ray was almost to the back of the third to help Kathy. As soon as Little Wolf was in place Lisa called out, “Take off the covers.”

  Lisa’s friends leaped out from under the canvas coverings. Crossbows loaded, they leaped to each side. They leveled their weapons at the stunned attackers. Out of the fourteen that had been hiding, only Sherrie and Ellen were unarmed. The three that had moved to the back of the wagons jerked knives from their belts and pinned the attackers closest to them.

  Ned was the last to climb out. He stepped out from behind Lisa. He aimed his crossbow at the young man. “Remember me?” he asked with a wide grin.

  The boy looked surprised, then indignant. “You lied to me!”

  “Yeah. So?”

  The Ellis boy tried to charge Ned. Ned seemed to know what the boy wanted to do. With well-honed ease he evaded the kid’s charge and put out his right leg. The kid stumbled to the ground. Ned shifted his weapon to his left arm. He hauled the kid up with his right, and tossed him to the older man.

  Ned again aimed at the kid. “Try that again, you dumb brat, and I’ll put an arrow in you.”

  Lisa jumped off the lead wagon. She walked up to the man the Ellis boy had talked to. She drew her knife from her belt. She knocked the man to the ground. She bent down, and held the blade against his throat.

  “Tell your men to drop their weapons.”

  “Do what she says.”

  Lisa waited until the would-be attackers complied. She called out to Little Wolf. “Get them tied up,” she told him. She turned to Ned. “Get the wagons turned around, then load the weapons in the third wagon.”

  Turning the wagons took time, but the rest was done quickly. Once the wagons faced Richmond the men from Poplar Ridge were shoved into the first two wagons. Their arms were tied behind their backs; extra ropes tied them together by the neck. Sherrie took the driver’s place on the first wagon, Ellen took the second, and Kathy took the third. Wayne climbed into the first wagon next to Sherrie.

  Lisa left the man she kept on the ground with Ned and Little Wolf. She jogged to Wayne. “Make sure you ask them who the Mayor of the town is,” she whispered. “Keep them separate when you ask.”

  “You got it.”

  “Sherrie, lead them back.”

  Sherrie took the reigns and urged the horses on. The three wagons rolled back to Richmond. Lisa jogged back to Ned, Little Wolf, and the remaining captive.

  “He has no other weapons,” Little Wolf told her.

  “Good.” She waved to the captive. “Get up.”

  The man stood. “What are you gonna do with them?”

  “Nothing, for now.” She forced a smile onto her face. “I’m going to be nice to you. I’m letting you go.”

  “Why?”

  “So you can tell your Mayor, or whoever is in charge of Poplar Ridge, that he needs to come to Richmond. He has to be there before sunset, day after tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I say so. If he isn’t there by then, maybe something bad will happen to those men we captured. Maybe I’ll let Butler know how many of your men we’ve got under guard in Richmond. Sunset, day after tomorrow, or else.” She pointed towards the town. “Go. Now.”

  The man didn’t need to be told twice. He ran off towards Poplar Ridge.

  Lisa waited for a few moments. She looked over her modest army. Everyone was unloading their bows. They all had packed lightly: five arrows for each; a canteen; beef jerky and bread for two meals; and a bedroll. This wouldn’t be a long trip. With luck, they’d be back in Richmond before dawn.

  She looked to Little Wolf. “You think he’s still running?”

  “Yes.”

  “So do I. Take the rear.”

  She turned her head slightly. “Line up, and let’s get part two finished.”

  ***

  The second part of Lisa’s plan would take much more effort and timing than the first. As with the first part surprise would be on her side. That was good, because this time the risk was much higher.

  She chose to look down on Butler from a spot not too far from where she’d set up camp a few days back. The new spot didn’t offer as much cover, but that wasn’t as important. She had to be able to see into the town. She needed to see the signal.

  Considering how dark it was, she had a fairly decent view of the two guards standing watch around the south alarm bell. The guards stood with their backs to the west. A cool breeze was blowing from that direction. From what she’d learned of the weather on Big Springs, that meant a storm system had passed through. The previous day was cloudy, this day had been cool, but no rain came down.

  Thank goodness for small favors.

  The first stage of the action was already underway. Four groups of four were to sneak up to the fence. Each group would stop a short distance away from an alarm bell. There they’d wait for the changing of the watch to begin.

  Dave was sitting to Lisa’s left. He suddenly tapped her arm and pointed. One of the guards by the south bell patted the other, said something, and walked towards the center of town.

  Little Wolf and Alek came into her view. Little Wolf motioned. He and Alek jumped over the fence and onto the guard. The guard didn’t cry out. Alek’s head popped up. He waved. Allie and Jane climbed over the fence.

  Lisa listened. There might have been sounds of a scuffle, but she couldn’t be certain. There were no cries or yells. No bells sounded.

  “It’s working,” Dave whispered.

  Lisa nodded to him. She looked into the town. She couldn’t see the retiring guard. She did hear knocks on doors. She counted them off. The eighth wasn’t too far past the first.

  She looked to the south bell. She couldn’t tell who was standing next to it at first. No hair was being blown by the wind. It had to be Alek. He kept his face towards the trees. He waited until the two new guards were a only a few paces away to turn. The guards were frozen just long enough for the other three to pounce on them. The pair fell without a sound, and didn’t make any afterward.

  Dave started to move. “Wait for it,” Lisa whispered to him, and to the other three waiting with her.

  Slow moments passed. If everything was going according to plan, Doug would have left his quartet by now. His group, led by Donna, came in from the west. Once their guards were subdued he was to go to each other group and and see that they had bound and gagged their guards. He was to end up at the south bell.

  Jane opened the lantern her group had captured. She waved it back and forth. That was the signal. Lisa waved to the four around her, and jogged down the hill. She waited until she was over the fence before she began giving orders.

  The first was to Jane and to Doug. “Scroun
ge up some rope, then go to the east gate.” They ran off.

  “Dave, get all the guards together.”

  “East gate, right?”

  “Right. Bind them together by the necks, like before.”

  She turned to Ned’s three friends who had been waiting with her and Dave. “Take those two with you,” she said, pointed to the two guards who were supposed to have come on duty. They nodded, and Dave led them away.

  Lisa turned to Little Wolf and Alek. She jerked her right thumb upward. They stood the guard they’d jumped on his feet. Lisa pulled out her knife. She pressed it against his throat. “Was the Mayor of this town on duty tonight?” she asked. He shook his head. “Then take us to his house.”

  Eyes wide with fright, the man did as he was told. The house was the largest in town. No lights were on. Lisa thought about going in at that moment, but decided it would be better to go in with more help. She told Allie to return with Donna, Ned, and Matt.

  When they joined her Lisa took her knife off the guard’s throat. She knelt him down to one side of the door. She pointed to Allie, then to him. Allie took our her knife and held the blade against the back of his neck.

  Lisa grasped the doorknob to the house. It turned. She opened it as slowly and quietly as she could. She nodded; everyone but Allie dashed inside. Lisa followed them into the house.

  The house had four rooms: a kitchen; a living and meeting room; and two bedrooms. Snoring sounded from both bedrooms. Donna opened one bedroom door, Ned the other. They found an older man and an older woman sleeping the larger room, and a young man Allie’s age sleeping the other. Ned and Alek roused the boy awake. Donna and Lisa woke up the couple. The three were forced into the living room.

  “I’m Lisa Herbert. I’m here to stop your war with Poplar Ridge.”

  “What?” the man asked. He yawned. “How?”

  “By taking you with us. Gag all three of them.”

  Gags were improvised and stuffed into their mouths. Lisa had the woman tied in her bed. She thought about doing the same to the boy, but decided he’d go with them. The man and his son were hustled out and tied into the line of captive guards. The guard who had led Lisa to the man’s house was kept separate from the others.

  Lisa nodded to Dave, who was at the front of the line. He led the captives and their captors out. Lisa, Ned, and Little Wolf watched the town. No one had heard them. The Mayor’s wife was staying put. She, the other two, and the remaining guard were the last to exit Butler.

  They all marched down the road to Richmond. About two miles past Butler Lisa stopped. Ned and Little Wolf joined her, while the rest kept going. Lisa looked up her captive.

  “I won’t untie you,” she told him, “but I’ll let you go. Tell your people what happened, and to sit tight. Anyone comes after us, or tries to attack Richmond, and the men we captured might suffer.”

  She looked at him one last time, then ran off to join her friends. Ned and Little Wolf glared at him before following her.

  “Now we end their fight?” Ned asked when he caught up to Lisa.

  “We’ll let them wait first.”

  “Why?”

  “It’ll rattle them. I need to get our friends behind me. They’re the ones that will end this for good.”

  ***

  Lisa, her friends, and their captives returned to Richmond early in the morning after dawn, just as the leader of Poplar Ridge arrived. It was a Sunday, a day for church and rest. Lisa intentionally arranged her plan so that they returned on that day. It wasn’t that she wanted her friends to have the same rest day as their hosts, although Lisa did want them to continue to make a good impression.

  The real reason was that she couldn’t call on Mayor Ross or anyone else. Everyone stayed home and rested on Sunday, except for the town guards. With no one at work, there couldn’t be any talks with the leaders of Poplar Ridge and Butler. The men would be alone in their cells, separated from their people, with nothing to do but think.

  Lisa hoped this would be to her advantage. Each leader would know that about a dozen of their men were being held here, but not that this was happening to their rival. They’d have plenty of time to wonder about might go wrong back home with so many men gone. They could ponder how many followers Lisa had, and what they could do if she chose to support either town. These worries would almost certainly gnaw at them, and grow the longer they waited.

  It was Lisa’s hope that their worrying would affect the situation in two ways. First off, the men wouldn’t want to drag things out. They’d want to get their men home before the other town found out how weak their foe was. Second, they’d believe Lisa had a strong force, perhaps stronger than the actual numbers might imply. Neither would want that force turned against them. Both would want it on their side. Putting all this together, Lisa felt that the men would quickly agree to any fair solution she offered.

  I’ll need all the advantages I can get, she told herself, if I’m to have any chance at ending this fight. I might as well stack the deck as much as I can.

  She suspected that her friends would probably agree with her idea for ending the feud as soon as she told them. She also knew that it wouldn’t be very fair for her to spring something on them after her negotiations had ended. They’d be forced to go along with her.

  She’d asked quite a lot from them in the previous days and weeks, and they hadn’t complained. Now she planned to ask them to settle down. She couldn’t drop that on them without some warning, some chance to back out if they weren’t ready.

  That evening she brought them together for one last big meeting. This time they gathered at Richmond’s community building. She didn’t waste too much time getting to her point.

  “Tomorrow morning I’m going to talk to the leaders of Butler and Poplar Ridge.” she said. “By then they’ll have had all day and all night to stew. They won’t know that their rival is just as weak as they are. All they will know is that their own town is weak. They’ll want to get their men back pretty damn quick. Since they’ll also figure out that I have plenty of good, strong friends, I doubt they’ll want to make me mad at them. This means they’ll probably agree to whatever solution I offer them.”

  “What is your solution?” Wayne asked.

  Lisa raised her hands. “Before I answer that, let me say to you that I’m not telling any of you that you have to go along with this. If any of you are the least bit uncertain, I’ll understand. Don’t say okay without giving this some thought.” She waited for them to agree.

  “Okay.” She inhaled a breath. “They have to agree to stop their war and let wagons go to each town. All their men have to give up their weapons, even for hunting. In exchange for that, I want five or six of us to stay in each town. We’ll have the only weapons. We’ll keep the peace, between the towns as well as in them.” She opened her arms. “That’s it.”

  The room was largely quiet. Most took a moment or two to consider her proposal. Some nodded immediately, while others were more cautious. Donna was the first to speak up.

  “If we agree, then we’ll have to stay here?” she asked.

  “That’s right,” Lisa answered.

  “What about our trade trips?” Allie asked.

  “Travel on the roads is pretty safe,” Wayne said. “Dave and I planned to run between worlds. I don’t think we need too many escorts.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with letting people on the worlds trade between towns on their world,” Lisa added. “I think we’ve created a path, but we can’t do it all ourselves. Others are going to have to follow us.”

  “I’ve got some practical questions,” Dave said, “not so much for me, but for everyone.”

  “Okay.”

  “Someone’s going to run each little group, right?”

  “Sure.”

  “Will there be someone in over-all charge of both groups?”

  “I think there has to be, yes.” She addressed the others. “I know I can’t do it. I have to go back to White Rocks and Lone Sta
r, tell them what’s going on. I also ought to go back to my world and let them know.”

  Including tell Father, not just to boast, but to make some deals with him. I wonder how he’s gonna react to that?

  “I wasn’t going to ask anyone to take charge just yet,” she continued. “First I have to get those two men to agree. It did occur to me that they might prefer someone from this world in charge, either running one group, both groups, or the whole group.”

  “If enough of us agree to stay,” Dave asked, “how should we put our people together?”

  “You mean, not letting my friends stay in one town, and yours in another?” Ned asked Dave.

  “Right.”

  Lisa could see troubles implied in Dave’s question. Except for Ray, Wayne and his friends weren’t all that close to Ned and his group. This could be a real danger if someone in either town found out that the people enforcing the peace weren’t good friends. A division could be exploited, the war restarted, and bringing peace even more difficult.

  A less obvious problem was the notion of setting examples. If her friends couldn’t quite come together, what hope was there for the towns to come together? That too could have effects beyond this world. After all, didn’t the Rain begin because worlds didn’t always get along?

  Lisa didn’t have any firm answers. She didn’t want to force anyone to chose “sides.” She had to admit that there was only one good fix. “We mix it up as best as we can,” she said. “Really, only Dan and Doug ought to stay together, since they’re brothers. If enough agree to stay, then we’ll figure out how to split the groups up.”

  Ray raised a hand. Lisa reluctantly allowed him to speak, expecting a smart remark or a light argument. She was surprised when instead he told the group, “I don’t care how the split works, I think it’s a great idea. I mean, we all joined Wayne because we wanted to be Rangers. Sounds to me like that exactly what we’re gonna be.”

  “You said if we joined your group we could make our lives better,” Dan said a moment later. “We agree to this we’ll be keeping the peace. For me and Doug, that’s better than what ever dreamed we could be.”

  In no time at all the discussion was over. Lisa would have six people to put into each town to enforce the peace. A wave of pride came over her. She wasn’t sure that they would want to settle down. Would they think they were ready? Would they want to spend more time trading?