Chapter 39: 038 The Garrison

It took a little while to walk to the Addams farm. You don't realize how quickly you travel on water until you go the same distance on foot. We approached an eight foot tall wooden fence made of thin logs. They still had the bark on them and the man in the uniform pointed to what I assumed was a kind of door. When we were within fifty feet of the fence, two men stood up from behind it. I had easily noticed them, because I was still using the vigilance technique.

“Halt!” One said and aimed a crossbow at us. “Who goes there?”

The other only had a sword and was standing as if to strike, for some reason. We were much too far away for him to attack. Plus, he was halfway up the back of the wall on a platform. There was no way he was getting over the top of the wall, dropping to the ground, and charging us.

“Lieutenant Smith.” The man in the uniform said and took off his hat. He had short blonde hair that I hadn't noticed from under the hat. “I am escorting a prisoner today and the same irate father as every other day this week.”

That made the guard with the sword chuckle and put his sword away. “At least we don't have to listen to him complaining that the prisoner didn't show up again.” He waved at someone behind him. “Open the gate.”

The gate clicked when a simple latch was moved and the large door swung open. Two more men in uniforms were there and waved us inside.

“Doesn't it hurt walking like that?” The guard asked and motioned to my bare feet.

“It hurt more losing the toes.” I said and his eyes dropped to look closely at my feet. His face paled a little and he stepped back to move out of the way.

“The main building is over there.” Lt. Smith said and pointed.

I started walking over to it and the other guard jogged around and held a hand out to stop me.

“You can't enter the garrison with weapons.” He said. “You need to hand them over and...”

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You have a choice to make. Will it be a good one?

A) Hand them over. B) Kill him. C) Bluff. D) Intimidate them. E) Run. F) Yell. G) Show off.

I'm about to be put on trial, so let's give them a taste of what I can do. I choose G.

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In an instant, I swiped the knifed-pitchfork across his chest to slice at the cloth. Unfortunately, it was a bit dull after using it so much, so it didn't do much except tug at the cloth. Since that didn't work, in the next instant, I stepped forward and drew my magic knife from my thigh sheath and held it at his throat.

“WHOA!” Lt. Smith said and stepped towards me.

“Stop.” I said in as deep of a voice as possible and he stopped. “No one takes my things.”

“All right. Easy now. No one is taking your things.” Lt. Smith said and waved me away.

I moved the knife away from the guard's throat and stepped back.

“What are you doing?” Mr. Powell said. “He just attacked an army soldier! Kill him! He's right there!”

“He didn't hurt him.” Lt. Smith said and gave me a searching look. “He easily could have.”

“He almost ruined my uniform.” The soldier said, a little shaken and with a look of relief on his face. “Someone almost crapped in my pants, too!”

I had to clamp my mouth shut to stop from laughing. That was a funny joke.

“This way, please.” Lt. Smith said and waved at the building again. No one else stepped forward or tried to stop me as I walked to the building.

A guard at the door opened it and the three of us went through. “Visitors have to wait in the designated area.”

Mr. Powell grumbled something and walked over to the set of chairs and sat down.

Lt. Smith led me over to a woman behind a desk. She wore a uniform as well and smiled at him for a second, then her nose wrinkled up and she stared at me.

“I told him that I wanted a bath first.” I said and she looked surprised.

“We need access to the bathhouse for...” Lt. Smith looked at me. “...about half an hour. Can you let the CO know we're here after that?”

“After?” She looked at Lt. Smith like he had lost his mind.

“Do you want him to take us in right away?” Lt. Smith asked.

She gave me another look and then shook her head. “I'll have it cleared out if it's not already.”

“Thank you.” Lt. Smith said and waved for us to sit. I walked over to where the chairs were and stood on the far side of them, away from the door. He gave me a look for a moment, shrugged, and sat beside Mr. Powell. She wrote something down onto a piece of paper and left the room through a side door for a second and came right back.

We were there for ten minutes before a man came out the same door. “Lieutenant.”

Lt. Smith stood and waved for me to follow. I went with him and we followed the man through another room and outside. We went to the next building and inside was what I would learn was a 'bath house'.

“I'll show you what to do to...” Lt. Smith started to say as we entered one of the rooms.

“I've taken a bath before.” I said and he nodded.

“I'll be right outside.” Lt. Smith said and closed the door.

I waited for a second and used a few drops of number ten potion to seal the door. I didn't want anyone coming in and taking my stuff when I was in the bath. I quickly stripped off and grabbed the cleaning things beside the large tub. I stepped into the hot water and sighed as the temperature soaked into my skin and my bones.

I scrubbed myself all over, even my hair, and I was done twenty minutes later. To my surprise, I had only heard someone try the door handle twice. I expected to hear a dull thump at least once as they tried to open the door and couldn't.

I dug out my clean clothes from my pack and dressed, even in the underwear, and transferred my money into my new pants. I even put on the socks, boots, and feather stuffed jacket. I looked around and found a kind of desk with a bunch of other things on it. I picked up a couple that looked like the thing Rebecca had used to fix my hair last time and I used that, too.

I was tempted to take some of everything there, then thought it would be bad if I got caught stealing while going to trial. I turned the bag that my clothes had been in, inside out, and put my old dirty clothes into it and tucked it into my pack. I took a minute to eat some of the food I had prepared and then I felt something brush against my right side. I turned my head to look that way and didn't see anything.

“He felt it!” Someone whispered in surprise.

I jumped at the wall as I pulled out my magic knife and slid it right at the spot where I heard the voice.

“AHHH!” A woman's scream pierced the air and there were several thumps and curses.

I cut a quick square out of the wall, about a stick wide, and looked at the two startled uniformed women on the floor. “It's not nice to peek on people.” I said in my deep voice and smiled at them with a big tooth bearing grin. I was definitely showing off for them and I hoped they appreciated it.

“I'M SORRY!” One of them women yelled. “DON'T KILL ME!”

“What's going on in...” Lt. Smith's voice started to say and then there was a thump on my door. “Ow! What the hell? These doors don't have locks!”

“Try the next door.” I said in a normal voice. Since my head was inside the other room, he heard it from there. The door opened and he stared at the two women on the floor.

“Donna!” Lt. Smith exclaimed. “Ah... I mean... Sergeant Simms. What are you doing?”

“Alex, I...” Donna's face went red. “I was having Annette check on the prisoner.”

“I believe that knocking and asking if he was in there would have sufficed.” Lt. Smith said.

“We didn't... want him... to know.” Annette said as her adrenaline faded and she started shaking from fright. “He tried to kill me!”

“Liar.” I said and she winced. “John lied, too. He said that I tried to kill him first and he attacked me. Twice.” I shook my head and pulled it back through the hole. “Diane said he was jealous of me taking work from him, even though I'm not a lumberjack.” I said and packed up my things, then hung the bandoleer over my shoulder and held the pack in my left hand. I had tucked the knifed-pitchfork into the holder and I held my magic knife in my other hand. “I think he was jealous because he wanted Diane.”

The two women on the floor stared through the hole and watched as I cut the door to the room free. I tucked the knife into the sheath in the bandoleer and opened the door.

“She was teasing him and he attacked. I killed him.” I said and walked over to Lt. Smith.

“You need to save that for the trial.” Lt. Smith said.

“Why? Is the truth going to change by then?” I asked and he gave me a startled look for a moment.

“The CO wants to see you.” Lt. Smith said after another moment and looked into the room. “Simms. Williams. You, too.”

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“But... the wall...” Donna said and motioned towards it with a worried look on her face.

I assumed that they would get in trouble for damaging army property like that. I walked over and picked up the piece that I had cut out of the wall and made sure that it was facing the right way. The cuts matched, so I stood between the witnesses and the hole. I discretely added drops of number ten potion on the edges of the piece of wood and put the thing back into place. After a second, I tapped it and walked away.

“By the SON'S LIGHT!” Annette yelled.

“What did you do?” Donna asked, surprised.

“Magic.” I said.

Donna looked at Annette, who shook her head.

“Marsh magic.” I said with a smile and Annette looked confused. “You would understand if I showed you what it was that I did. I'm not going to, though.”

Annette looked surprised for a second, then angry, then sad. “I guess I deserved that.”

“Let's go, everyone.” Lt. Smith said and waved us out of the room.

Donna walked in front to lead, then it was me, Annette, and Lt. Smith. We left the bath house and went back to the main building. The woman at the desk stared at me and instinctively took in a sniff.

“I still have the pack.” I said and she stood up.

She walked over to me and leaned in towards my neck to take another sniff. She smiled and nodded as she stepped back. “Go on in.” She said and motioned to the door behind her desk. “Please, leave the pack by the door on the inside of the office. The less the Commanding Officer smells it, the more likely he won't hate you.”

“He's just like some of the villagers.” I said and she took in a sharp breath. “Most hate me anyway, no matter what they smell.”

Lt. Smith stepped by me and knocked on the door, then opened it to wave me and the other two through. I stepped into the office and I carried the pack right over to the man's desk and plunked it on the chair in front of the desk.

The man behind the desk stared at me and I ignored him. I looked around his office and he had almost nothing in it. It looked like my work room, actually. It only had one shelf for books, too.

“So, you are the supposed killer, Marsh Man?” The man asked, disbelief in his voice.

“No.” I said and looked at him. “I killed him, fair and square.”

The man's face went angry. “Fair was it? Attacking an unarmed man?”

“I only cut off his head. He still had his arms.” I said and someone let out a muffled chuckle.

“This isn't a laughing matter. A man lost his life.”

“Diane's husband died because of John. Why wasn't he on trial?” I asked.

“He's dead.” The man replied.

“I only killed him last fall, so that's not a reason.” I said and the man didn't say anything. “Why are you doing this?”

“The mayor begged for us to come here and intervene on her behalf when the locals proved to be cowards.” The CO said.

“Are you a coward for not wanting to die?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Are you a coward?” I asked and jumped over the desk and had my knife at his throat in the blink of an eye.

The man didn't flinch. “Kill me and you will be dead before you leave the garrison.”

“I've died several times already. What's one more?” I asked and pressed my thumbnail to the man's neck as if it was the blade. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he didn't speak.

“That's enough.” Lt. Smith said.

“Okay.” I said and slid back across the desk and stood beside the chair. My knife was back in the sheath and no one had seen me do it.

The CO reached up and touched his neck. It didn't come back with blood and he squinted his eyes at me.

“Thumbnail.” I said and wiggled my thumb at him.

“The trial will be held in the morning.” The CO said. “I hope you can state more evidence than 'it was fair', or this is going to be a short trial.” He looked at Lt. Smith. “Lock him up.”

“Sir, he...”

“...is a danger to everyone on this base.” The CO said. “This little show proved that.”

“Liar.” I said and he looked at me with squinted eyes. “You knew it was a show.”

“Strip him of his things and...”

I flashed the knife out and slid it across the front of his desk and cut the legs off. “No one takes my things.” I said and touched the desk with my hand and it toppled over. “If anyone tries, I won't hesitate or warn them.”

“Now see here.” The CO stood up. “You are in army custody and...”

I quickly stepped forward and did several thin cuts to his clothing and stepped back.

“...you will abide by...” The CO stopped taking when nearly the whole front of his uniform fell into shreds and fluttered to the floor. His hand came up and touched the undershirt he wore and it didn't have a single mark on it.

“Stop showing off.” Lt. Smith spat at me.

“I could have carved your heart out, just like I do to near-deer.” I said and picked up my pack.

“Lock him up.” The CO said and looked at me. “He can keep his things.”

I nodded and Lt. Smith opened the office door for me.

“Wait here.” Lt. Smith said and closed the door. “Sir, I'm sorry that happened.”

I was still using Vigilance and could clearly hear them talking.

“So is he.” The CO said. “I'll be testifying at the trial tomorrow.”

“You can't. You're the CO.” Annette said.

“He's going to be found guilty.” The CO said. “The one presiding is a friend of the mayor.”

“Sir, you can't let them preside.” Lt. Smith said. “Nominate a new officiator.”

“Even if I wanted to, and I don't, there's no one in this town that would give him a fair trial.” The CO said. “Plus, he really is a danger if these are the kinds of things he does all the time.”

“It's their fault.” Lt. Smith said. “They were trying to spy on him and he caught them.”

“Explain.” The CO said.

The two women told the story about the rumors of the Marsh Man and him being covered in scars from years of abuse from the Hag. Their curiosity got the better of them and when the door wouldn't open for them, they tried magical means and were discovered.

“You owe me a new uniform.” The CO said.

The two women groaned, because that was an expense that they would not likely pay off for a while.

“Dismissed.” The CO said and Lt. Smith opened the door.

“You could have just asked.” I said to the two women and they stared at me as if that had never occurred to them.

“The lock up is in another building.” Lt. Smith said with a smile and led me out of the main building.

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