Chapter 5: CH5:Eviction

Silas sat on the porch of John’s villa, smoking from a pipe his friend offered him while watching the ice storm. He saw the orange light up of other smokers across the street through the sleet and passing horse-drawn carriages. Unfortunately, all they could hear was the sound of falling ice sprinkling on the road, quickly turning the icy black slurry temporarily white. His stitches itched from the cold even as he felt the skin knitting back together faster than he thought possible. John flipped through a leather-bound bible he kept on an old cheery wood table while Silas chewed on the pipe, trying to come to terms with the price gouging John had included him in.

 

His latest harvest had yielded more than expected. It was mostly food which had become more expensive after the hollow attacked one of the town’s food stores. A wagon load was worth more to a starving town than spare mouths to feed and cows they didn’t have the grain for. The promise of Silas bringing more food helped John get what Silas needed more quickly. He managed to get a young bull out of the deal, even if the town lost out on beef.

 

“I tell thou, cousin, the sky was blotted out for three days while thou were out; thou should have seen it. The little gluttonous winged rats picked dozens of farms clean like locusts. If thy farm was also hit, a lot of people are going to starve this winter. Credit will be provided to purchase more horses and farm hands for the promise of food. So few Sirrah wish to risk the beast out in the woods. Some of my own guards fell to the beast.” John said.

 

His stitches itched, but he wasn’t afraid. The hollow wasn’t so tough; he was more worried about the state of the town and its people. What he saw shouldn’t happen; it was madness, and he wouldn’t stand for it.

 

“Perhaps this was a test that the town failed. Our community turned on its weakest members, and it didn’t help a thing.” Silas said.

 

“Cousin, thou must let it go. Spirit visions were presented to a court with many witnesses; the girl’s peers claimed she had worked wicked evils. Of the six questioned, she’s the only one who confessed instead of going to God in death. She confessed to every evil our town has faced in the last year and was swiftly executed. The priest allowed her to beg God for forgiveness, and she did so like a drowning Sirrah handed a rope. God will surely pull her soul to his kingdom; I’m sure of it.” John said.

 

“Her soul may have passed on, but her body made a good trap. At least the beast had the decency to wait until I buried her.” Silas said.

 

“Let no one hear thou say that. Methinks, If the council finds out, they will claim thou consorted with the witch. So let us live with the fiction that the poor lass was a witch and thou another victim of the beast. While the summoner is no more, the beast still lingers until God wills it back.” John said.

 

His friend wasn’t a fool or a true believer. John Grisham was a deist, and if he knew of evolution, the man would proudly join the ranks of atheists. Silas was sure of it. If there weren’t other advantages in holding true to the faith, John could become like Silas.

 

Silas shook his head, then dropped his pipe when a  group of black-clad people moved through the sleet and stopped at a plus soul Silas hadn’t noticed. One took out their blade and tapped the soul with the butt of their sword. In moments the soul was whisked away to the soul society. He watched as the group changed course, most likely heading to the next soul in need of being sent on.

 

They could at least deal with his plus soul problem if they came to his homestead. Unfortunately, the Shinigami didn’t look too interested in leaving the village to hunt down a hollow. It was unlikely they would solve his problem unless it was made their problem. Silas wasn’t interested in getting their attention and all the problems that came with it. While they might see him favorably, there was the chance they would torture everything he knew out of him. He could still look for a silver lining; maybe while they were around, the hollow would make itself scarce.

 

 “Mayhap his angels will be sent to take the beast out,” Silas said.

 

…

 

The return trip had been slower but more rewarding for it. Dotty loved the young gelding. Silas hitched beside her and nibbled on him the whole trip back. Cletus kept an eye always on the slaves following the wagon on foot while Silas kept his muskets ready.

 

Four of the male slaves were African, while the last was Dutch and liked to pretend he didn’t understand English. For the most part, Silas didn’t care so long as they did what was expected of them. Five more hands to harvest his crops and two horses to pull his wagon meant faster trips and profit.

 

His cultivation wouldn’t suffer either. One of the benefits of growing his mushrooms was the ability to choose where he consumed them. So he planned to take some cuttings back to town to cultivate between trips. That was the surest way to make the gains he needed.

 

Accommodating six new people on his lands was a problem, especially with only one shack.

 

Fortunately, there was plenty of lumber on his land, so it wouldn’t be too much trouble to build more shacks, another wagon, and a storehouse for the crops until everything was harvested. With spirit energy flowing into his fields, Silas found it unlikely that the ice ruined much. It was more likely that a deer managed to find a way through his fence to feed than weather-causing total mayhem. His alchemic potions and the spirit energy filling the crops made them stronger, larger, and more nutritious than natural.

 

His advantage in crop yield would go a long way to set him up for the future. With helping hands, he could focus on building his home and cultivation. The faster he reached the first stage, the better. Silas might be able to throw hands with the hollow if he reached the first stage, but it would help.

 

They reached the edge of his property, where the glow from the fence was noticeable even to the less spiritually aware. “Boss, art thou the witch who summoned the beast?” Cletus asked.

 

“Cousin, thou art a hard worker and bright individual. The beast is cunning but can not control the birds, nor can I. As it happens, what thou envision art protections against demons. Once within the boundary of my home, no beast can attack thy person.”

 

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The man looked nervous but nodded slowly. “Virgin Mary, protect thee.” The dutchman said.

 

After they entered and everyone was settled in, Silas found Su frozen after she tried to destroy one of his protections. While no one watched him, he took her by the neck and marched her toward the edge of his fence.

 

“Please, thou art a good forgiving Christian, Sirrah. This mistress has sinned against thee, but it's not my fault. My son tricked me.” Su said.

 

Silas looked down on the pitiful plus soul.

 

“If thou can move, my advice would be to head to low Delaware town. There are Shinigami who could send thou to heaven where you can find thy husband and wait for thy child.” Silas said before tossing her over the fence.

 

Su tried to push back through the fence, but the protections blasted her away. He turned his attention to an expected sight. The bear hollow who slashed him stepped out of the tree line and practically teleported over. Silas saw a small crack in its chest where his lead ball hit the beast. A small smile spread across Silas’s face.

 

“Thou art not so invincible after all,” Silas said.

 

“Thou hast failed to open the way for me, and my enemy gloats in my torment. If thou can’t help me from within my enemy’s house, then thou will help me from within my stomach.”

 

“Please, thou art my son.”

 

“I hunger, mother.” The bear hollow said and smiled with its creepy bear mask.

 

It leaped to pounce on its mother, and Silas raised his musket and fired. The hollow screeched like the retched thing it was before taking a bite out of its mother.

 

“Thou can’t stop me.” The hollow said while Silas reloaded.

 

He had a chance to do some real damage, but it was over before he could pack the barrel for the ball. An overwhelming spiritual pressure erupted from the hollow before it launched itself at the fence. One of its claws ripped through a wooden beam before reaching deeper into his property. Silas felt his hands fumble to pack down paper before he struggled to pull a lead ball from his belt.

 

More of his protections came alive as the hollow forced its way inside the property. Flashes of spiritual lighting blasted the hollow as it crawled forward. “Thy defenses crumble, and thy strength fails.”

 

Silas pointed his musket and fired, filling the air with black smoke. He heard the hollow screech from a direct hit as it took more damage.

 

He took a step back while his defenses continued to work on the hollow. While neither his musket nor his defenses could finish the job, they damaged the beast and caused immense pain. All he needed to do was drive it away, and then he could build his defenses and extend them further. Silas could dig out his cave and etch a stronger array to pull in more spiritual energy. He had cows to engage in his original plan.

 

While his thoughts swarmed with future improvements and reasons to keep living, his hands moved to pour more powder into his musket, even in the falling ice. Silas didn’t want to die; he would struggle until the end.

 

“Thou art a filthy bear with no lovers or kin. My land rebukes you, and my bullets scorn thy flesh. Flee and live or stay and let my land melt thy flesh to the bone. Come continue our chase under my lead so I can take thou merrily into hell.” Silas said while his hands continued moving.

 

His words weren’t hot air. Silas was leading the hollow into an intersection between posts to double the effect on the beast.

 

“Fool thy trap is cunning to lack wits and mistresses. Today I flee, but when next we meet, I will be thy death.” The hollow said before turning tail and fleeing.

 

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