Going for the Juggler
5
… and Sharp Objects
“I NEED TO STOP, LINCOLN .”
“We can’t stop right now.”
“I’m going to throw up.”
“Try not to get it on your horse.”
“Lincoln, I killed a man! I’m going to throw up!”
“That’s why we need to keep moving. We left a man alive. I want us safe at the Inn in the next town before we stop.”
“That’s mean!”
“That’s Chaos.”
I knew I was mean. Cadence had killed a man. The alternative was that she’d be dead. But I saw the look in the accomplice’s eyes. I knew he would be on our tail soon, and probably trying to get ahead of us to set an ambush. I didn’t know if he would come alone or with a gang. What I knew was that alone on the open road, we were vulnerable and every second we wasted got them closer. I would bathe Cadence tonight, massage her, let her cry, make love to her, or whatever else she needed.
I wouldn’t stop on the road.
We were both sore from the day’s ride yesterday. The pounding of our asses in the saddle for a second day was brutal. It was two days’ hard ride from the Risk River to the Copper River where the next large town was. Halfway between was a sizable village. The caravans that started from Mule’s Crossing and went South took nearly a week to make the journey if they had wagons. Those that had only pack animals moved only slightly faster. Lisa was two months ahead of us and in two days we would be a week closer.
I glanced at Cadence to make sure she was still in the saddle and saw the tears running down her cheeks. Shortly, they were washed away by rain. Just what we needed. At least it might discourage pursuit until a sunny day.
We pressed onward.
Even on good mounts with good pack animals, you don’t go galloping down the highway. Our horses could go miles on the relatively flat lands without a break. At a walk. If we didn’t have pack animals, we could trot most of the day, but you don’t drive beasts of burden like that if you want to move on the next day.
We stopped long enough to water the horses at the campsite used by most caravans on their first day out from Mule’s Crossing. No one was there, of course, and there was no sign of recent activity. Trade on Chaos was regulated by weather. The longer caravans were all headed South before the winter storms set in. We watered the horses and I held Cadence against my sodden chest to comfort her. I gave her a sip of watered wine from my bota bag and helped her back into the saddle. Then we were off again.
There were two more short stops. We chewed a hard biscuit and some jerky at the second and Cadence seemed to revive a bit. It was nearing dark when we finally approached the village and we had seen no one on the road since leaving the ford at Mule’s Crossing.
The inn was nearly deserted so I didn’t bother with trying to entertain for our dinner. I paid the quad each for our dinner, wine, breakfast, and stabling for our animals. Our bed was only a little mildewed. Everything was damp.
There was a fire in the main room, though, and the innkeeper brought us a good meal that we shared with his family sitting around one table. They had a mixed heritage. It wasn’t uncommon in the borderlands. I’d seen mixed couples even in Mule’s Crossing. In the inn, the family was used to seeing Caucasians in the caravans, though it was less common at this season. Our race would stand out more the farther South we traveled.
I volunteered no more information than was necessary about our journey and left a clue that we would be heading upriver from the next large town. We would actually cross and head downstream. I wondered, in fact, about taking one of the barges east, but at this season, even river traffic was probably slow.
In the morning, we broke fast with the family, checked our gear, and continued the ride. We had both simply been too sore to make love during the night, but I’d held Cadence’s naked body next to mine, both for warmth and comfort. We continued to stop at the normal caravan campsites that were all abandoned for the season for our infrequent breaks. We reached the city walls while there was still daylight and found an inn. I paid nearly double what we’d been charged in the previous village and the food was not as good. We were able to dry our woolen coats by the fire, though, being careful to avoid melting or even cooking the tallow in them. At least they would be more comfortable to ride in the next day than they had been while sodden.
As I suspected, barge traffic was at a minimum, but the ferry across the river was running twice a day. The circus would have continued along the north side of the Copper River eastward to the next large town, nearly three days’ ride from here. There, they would cross the bridge. With just horses, though, we could make use of the ferry and not risk having Accomplice cross to get ahead of us. And I knew there were other villages on the south side. On the north, we would have to camp.
Cadence was sedate as we continued our journey, but I noted that she moved her sabre to the saddle scabbard instead of wearing it under her coat. I wondered where she’d learned that. We were both still sore after three days of riding, but we were both determined to press onward. In three more days, we were tired, but had gained another week on the circus.
Five miles east of the town, the Copper River was joined by the Refresh River. We turned south to follow the Refresh. I remembered the route we took on my first journey in the South and knew that each day we were getting closer to Lisa. I reminded Cadence of this when she complained of her sore butt and she resolutely continued. I promised to rub the sore spots as soon as we were settled in an inn.
Along this section of the road, we began to meet other travelers, some traveling the same direction we were and some headed north. By mid-afternoon, we’d shed our woolen coats, and basked in the afternoon sunlight for a change. It would still be freezing cold at night, but at least we would not spend all our time shivering as we rode.
The rule of the road on Chaos is to never let your guard down. Even when we passed the occasional traveler, both he and we were on alert. He could be just a farmer going home from an all-night drunk or he could be a decoy, set to keep you off-guard while a band crept up on you from behind. Much to both our relief, we’d stayed clear of trouble and had lived modestly as we journeyed. I’d sung and danced in several taverns and inns, so it wasn’t hard to determine the direction I was headed. Cadence and I figured we were within a few days of where the circus should be. In the last large town we stopped at, they were just two weeks ahead of us.
We crested a rise anticipating the campsite and a water source we’d been told about when we left that morning. It was a lush valley with a stream that we knew flowed to the twisting river off to our left where we anticipated intersecting with the circus. We dismounted, stretched as we looked around, and led the horses to the stream.
“Now I’ve got you,” came a growl and I saw a flash as four men came from the copse of trees around us with bows. They looked pretty rough and ill-kept—northerners who had been marched long and hard to get ahead of us. Growling his command to throw down our weapons was the accomplice. “Don’t kill them unless they move,” Accomplice called. “We’ll have music from the minstrel tonight while we have pleasure from the woman. We can kill them in the morning.” They laughed.
“Oh, look, Lincoln,” Cadence said lazily as she unbuckled her sword belt. “The fat accomplice has lost weight. Not been eating well on the road? Tired? Low energy? Doubt you’ll be able to get it up for that pleasure you were talking about. Not that I’d be able to tell the difference.”
“Maybe if I shoot you in the leg it will shut you up,” he said. He drew his bow and it snapped in half springing back at him. The arrow went into a tree. Cadence had her sword out of its scabbard and was near him as he wailed, “Shoot her!” Nothing happened. He turned to look toward his gang and found them all face down on the ground with arrows sticking from their backs. “What is going on?”
“Highway robbery,” said a man to my left as a dozen armed men emerged from the thicket. “You dare to rob and rape on my road?”
“You’ve got it all wrong!” Accomplice said. “These two were lying in wait as me and my boys stopped to water our horses. “I’ll bet they even have the ones they stole from us last night hidden back there in the trees.” He pointed off to his left and one of the band slipped off that direction. “I demand you arrest these brigands!” he finished with bravado. He should have made his career in theater where he would only be booed.
“What do you think I am? The sheriff? Lord Chang? The Keystone Cops?” the leader laughed. “I’m Genghis Fucking Khan and I am the only one who preys on travelers on this road. You are poaching on my territory.” Well, maybe we weren’t saved after all. He turned to me. “Are you the crippled Minstrel Lincoln?” he demanded. I waved a cane at him.
“That would be me.”
“Don’t you know who you were tangling with?” the leader asked. All bows had been lowered. Only Cadence’s sword was still out of its scabbard. “The legends of Minstrel Lincoln are known all over the South. The Minstrel’s Traveling Show even has a performance of the famed slaying of seven slavers with one blow of his sword. It would take a mad man to attack the minstrel and his bodyguard. He is known to travel only with the best swordsman on Chaos. As you can tell by the saber held to your throat. Look. Even there, he slew four of your men with four arrows fired from his bow at the same time.”
I what???
“Now hold still while your betters remove your weapons and money. You don’t want to accidentally die of a sword stroke. It’s very messy.” Accomplice stood perfectly still while one of Khan’s men stripped him. Finally, he stood naked in front of Cadence and Khan. Cadence flipped the end of his dick with the flat of her sword.
“Just as I thought,” she mumbled.
“Is there anything else you want of him?” Khan asked. Cadence shook her head. I still didn’t know where we stood with the brigand, but he was making no move to disarm us. “Very well, take him away and hang him,” Khan said. Two men grabbed Accomplice’s arms behind him and marched him away.
“But you said I wouldn’t die!” Accomplice shrieked.
“I said you wouldn’t have a messy death with your throat slit. Hanging is much neater.” We could hear his bellow and pleading for five minutes as he was dragged away. Eventually they went silent. Khan’s man led seven horses and two mules into the clearing, all loaded with gear.
“Now, Lincoln Minstrel,” Khan said, “what do we do with you?”
“You might take the horses and gear as compensation for your day’s labor and allow us to continue our journey. We are attempting to catch up with the circus you mentioned,” I said.
“Hmm. Might. Then again, if I were less than hospitable to you, Master Lees might not bring the circus back.”
“You know my… Master Lees?” Cadence burst out. “Is sh… he well?”
“Well and expecting you. Has been expecting you for five years, though I’d guess you were no more than a child when he last saw you.”
“Tell us, Mister Khan. How do you happen to know Master Lees and the Minstrel’s Traveling Show?” I asked.
“Well, that’s a story for the fireside. We’re unlikely to be disturbed here. It is known as a safety rest. Let’s make camp and share stories and songs.” I hesitated. “I assure you, tomorrow you will catch up with the circus.”
This would be a new experience for Cadence and me. In over three weeks on the road, we’d managed to make it to an inn every night. Usually, we paid for our room with music and for information with pinches. In all that time, we hadn’t unpacked our camping gear. As we turned to our horses, four men came up to us with the clothing and personal effects of the four slain men and laid them in next to the pile of Accomplice’s gear.
“Your spoils, Minstrel,” one said.
“What? These should go to the men who killed them.”
“We heard Khan say that you had killed them with four arrows at the same time. ’Twas not us who killed them. We could hang for that.”
“And I couldn’t?” I asked.
“Well, yes you could, but they can only hang you once no matter how many you kill. You just need to get rid of the evidence.”
“I’m holding an auction,” I yelled. “Bring me one of those saddled horses. Now here are the remaining possessions of a man who was lost in a storm. We know that there is a horse and saddle, some clothes, sadly blood spotted, a bow, a sword, and a knife. I’d suggest you test the bow before you try to use it. Don’t much like what happened to the last one I saw pulled. Now, who’ll give me a pinch for it.” The men laughed and one raised his hand. “I’ve got a pinch, got a pinch; give me two? Who’ll give me two? That’s two; give me three. Three pinch for the lot. Going once. Going twice. You want in? It’s a quad to you. Sold! To the handsome man with a feather in his cap. Pay my lovely cashier. Now someone bring me that sorrel mare. Here we have a fine specimen of horseflesh. She comes with bridle, bit, and saddle, and this lovely pile of slightly soiled clothing. This is a low-mileage model, only ridden by a little old lady to visit her granddaughter on Sundays. Who’ll start us with a pinch?”
In fifteen minutes, the men were all laughing. Cadence had collected six quads and we were left with a packhorse and two mules, loaded with gear. The men were a jovial group as we went about setting up camp and they kindly ignored our incompetence in sorting out our tent and getting it erected. Eventually, we had everything unpacked, the horses tethered, and a fire going. Three of the men dragged the carcass of a deer into camp, hoisted it in a tree, and began butchering.
“I hope you like venison,” Khan said.
“It’s fine,” I answered. “I was ready to offer that old nag up for dinner.” I pointed at the swayback pack horse. “I must thank you, Genghis Khan.”
“I’m not really Genghis Khan,” he laughed. “The Khan part is right, but I am Aram Khan. Come sit by the fire and let us swap tales and drink wine.”
“Are we then in the lands of Lord Chang?” I asked.
“No,” Khan said. “Though we nibble a bit at the borders of his province, he leaves us alone. There is nothing out here of value for him to want and as long as we don’t steal within his province, he ignores us. We are blatant about our thievery. He is subtle about his.”
“And how has it come that you know Master Lees?” Cadence asked. Being so close to her mother, yet camped listening to Khan tell old adventures, was wearing on her.
“We have an agreement,” Khan said. “The first was that he agreed not to kill me. I would almost believe the tale of killing seven slavers with a single blow was his story and he disguised it by attributing it to the Minstrel. But is that not often the way legends are built? We also promised to guard his circus through the passages between cities before he reached Lord Chang’s province. For this he pays us handsomely. But, the most important to all of us is that he brings us the circus for three day’s festival each year. Tomorrow is the first day of the festival and we will be there by the noon performance.”
“And what does Master Lees get in return for this?”
“We watch for the minstrel and his companion and see that they get to him safely.”
Khan and his brigands were a sociable lot. Apparently, in an encounter a few years earlier, Lees had agreed to bring the circus off route and set up where all the area outlaws could attend performances. In return, the circus got free passage through all the lands surrounding and was never molested.
When we rose in the morning and broke camp, Cadence and I had five pack animals instead of two. Fortunately, we weren’t that far from the circus encampment and we turned upstream along the creek and away from the road. About ten miles farther we saw the huge tent with pennants flying set in the middle of a large open meadow. Our approach was no more noticed than the dozens of other riders and hikers headed toward the circus.
“There are children clear out here?” Cadence asked.
“Mistress, our families are with us. Surely you did not think that it was only men who worked the highways. We only do that to supplement our income. We have villages and farms, just like other people,” Khan said.
“That just blows the image of highwaymen all to hell,” Cadence sighed.
We tied our animals and one of the men was assigned to watch. He would get to attend a later performance. We paid our pinch and went into the tent. It looked much like it had just a month ago when I left Chaos—my time. I reminded myself that it had been over five years. The wagons and scenery looked freshly painted compared to how run-down some of them had been when we got them from Bandy. It appeared the circus was profitable.
And the acts were enjoyable. Finally, there was Legs. Damn! She had a new dancing partner. A handsome lad that matched her step for step in her dances while the twins were back there somewhere vocalizing a soundtrack. I guess that’s when it got to be too much for me. I moved forward with Cadence in my wake. Khan saw what I was up to and made sure a path was cleared. When I reached the edge of the performance area I waited until she’d completed a complex series of steps and then I tapped out a new rhythm on a wooden bench with my canes. Legs’s eyes snapped up, but she matched the rhythm with her steps then turned to her partner who hesitated a moment and then improvised a neat little step to go with it. Good. At least he wasn’t simply using a pattern he’d learned by rote. I tapped a short series and it was responded to. And then the fun really began.
I started winding my way closer to where Legs was dancing, using every available surface as a drum to find new sounds and beats. Eventually, I started rapping on the little platform on which the couple were dancing. Legs squealed as my cane came down next to her foot. Her partner backed off as I set a complex pattern slapping the sticks together and on the stage as Legs danced and leaped over them, tapping out a counterpoint. The speed picked up to the point that both the sticks and her feet were a blur and the crowd was cheering so loudly we had to stop because we couldn’t hear the beats. I slapped the canes down and Legs launched herself off the platform and into my arms with those amazing legs wrapped around my waist.
Two beautiful ‘tween’ girls came tumbling onto the stage and leapt to the shoulders of the young man—who I realized belatedly was none other than Saul Sir—and sang out, “Here for a limited engagement, it’s Lincoln Minstrel!” There were more cheers as I set Legs on her feet and turned to Cadence. Only Cadence wasn’t there. Ten feet away she was wrapped in the arms of Master Lees. My Lisa. Her mother.
We could not, of course, end the show there and go celebrate. We had to perform. I sang with the girls as backup and discovered that Saul was a most athletic dancer, combining fancy steps with acrobatics. He and Legs made a good combination. She was probably four years older than him, but she’d agreed to adopt the three children with Lees. I wondered how that was working out. As I played the cithara, the girls brought out a table draped in black and set it in front of me. So, it was magic they wanted. Well, I had a few tricks up my sleeves. I performed the usual sleight of hand. I stuck a dagger in the table and draped a silk scarf over it. It was obvious that the dagger was there because the scarf rested on it. I pulled more silk scarves from my sleeves and tossed them in the air, juggling them. You might think that juggling silk scarves looks easy, but it requires a great deal of control.
When I had four in the air and had apparently been focused on them, I snatched the scarf off the dagger and added it to the scarves in the air. It took only a moment for people to realize the dagger was no longer stuck in the table. It was gone. I pulled scarf after scarf away from the flow of my juggling, laying them side by side on the table. When all five were draped there and it appeared there was nothing else in the air, I did a backcross with the concealed dagger and it appeared to come from thin air as it landed point down in the center of the scarves. Thunderous applause.
I finally got free of the stage and stepped behind where Lisa rushed into my arms.
“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was a bitch,” I said.
“You have no idea what a bitch is until I finish with you!” Lisa laughed. “You brought me my girl. Please tell me what I want to hear.”
“I love you, Lisa. As soon as we pick up our damsel we are headed home.”
“Hot shower?”
“Twice a day if you want them.”
“Wilson’s dead?”
“Not exactly. Most of this story is Cadence’s to tell. I’d better rescue her. She’s in a stare down with Legs.” Lisa and I stepped over to the two who both had their arms crossed in front of them but didn’t look like they’d said a word. “Cadence, Allegra, meet your cousin.”
“What was she doing holding my man?” both said at the same time. It startled them. Legs was a couple of inches shorter than Cadence, but she was very athletic and it was just as difficult not to notice her boobs when she was dancing and bouncing around as it was not to notice Cadence’s movement beneath her silk shirt. I wrapped my arms around both girls.
“There will be no fights and arguments,” I commanded. “Especially not out here where both the departing audience and crew are gathered. We’ll take it to the wagon and you will both get to know each other and shall become friends. Do you understand me?”
Both girls nodded and we moved away from the arena to where Master Lees was engaged in a whispered conversation with Khan.
“She speaks now?” I whispered to Legs. Legs glanced quickly at Cadence.
“Only to certain people and only in whispers. People assume he has no full voice. Most people still don’t know he is a woman. But Khan and Chang have been helpful allies. The circus and all the performers are prospering.” I led the women over to where Lees and Khan were.
“We take our leave, Master Minstrel,” Khan said. “I will see you again before you break camp here. Thorin has gone with one of my men to separate out your livestock and packs.”
“Thank you for your hospitality and kindness,” I said. “And thank you for watching over the circus and Master Lees in my absence.”
“A task we are only too willing to continue,” Khan said. “This is a major festival for our people each year. The encampment on the other side of the rise over there is nearly as large as Chang’s stronghold. You’ll visit soon.”
“Indeed,” I said. He left and we accompanied Lees to the wagon. It had been upgraded. Not only was it freshly painted, but I noticed metal bushings on the axles. I pointed at them.
“There is a bronze foundry along the route that we missed during your first trip,” Legs said. “We made some profitable trades. We still break wheels, but we don’t go through as many axles and hubs.”
The inside of our wagon was a cozy and very feminine nest. I wasn’t sure if this was Legs having taken over in the apparent role as Lees’s mistress, or if Lisa had emerged to make the wagon her home.
Our first night together was stressful. There was a respectful caution between Legs and Cadence. Lisa, Cadence, and I had a particular type of relationship. We had all been intimate. Lisa was my sister-in-law and Cadence was her daughter and my lover. Legs, Lisa, and I had a slightly different relationship. We traveled and performed together and the two women often engaged together in keeping me satisfied, even without intercourse.
Then there was Cadence and me—lovers and engaged to be married. We had to tell her mother that, by the way. And there was Legs and Lisa—also lovers and adopted parents of Saul, Melody, and Harmony. And there was the unquestionable attraction between Legs and me that we had kept carefully controlled since we’d met, but we’d certainly had as much intimate exploration with each other as I’d had with Lisa. Finally, there were Legs and Cadence, newly discovered to be cousins. Cadence’s father and Legs’ mother were half siblings and they shared a grandfather.
We spent a tense first night all together in the wagon until Lisa said, “Fuck this,” and stripped out of her clothes. She immediately stripped me out of mine and pulled me to her in a familiar embrace. “You two will have to figure out what you are going to do. I am a Hero’s Caretaker and I plan to take care of his needs.”
She did. And I took care of hers. We did not have intercourse, still not having broken that early taboo, but we were otherwise thoroughly lost in each other as the cousins looked on. By the time Lisa and I were sated, both Legs and Cadence were also naked and holding us from either side. I don’t believe either of them had witnessed Lisa and I being so completely focused on each other before. It was an eye-opener.
In the morning, things began to relax and we got into the performances for the day. I danced with Legs and mimed with Lees. Finally, I juggled with Cadence. She had become quite accomplished in the art and we were able to pass sticks between us effortlessly. When I called out, “Knives!” we each drew a dagger from our belts and added them to the mix. At “One-out!” we each dropped one of the sticks. Two beats later, we added another knife. In a dozen more passes, there were no sticks in the mix and six knives were being passed between us, much to the astonishment of the crowd.
Lisa, Legs, Cadence and I walked through Khan’s encampment that evening, having been invited to dinner by the bandit. It was a regular town of tents pitched in neat rows with cook fires spaced among them.
There were even latrines dug on the outskirts and I was surprised to find that men even went to them to piss. In many of the towns on Chaos, especially in the north, it was not uncommon to see a man open his codpiece and let a stream of piss out in the middle of Main Street.
In the passages, especially around the cookfires where people seemed to gather, many of the circus performers continued to entertain with acrobatics. There were even a few other jugglers. I recognized Thorin’s contortionist girlfriend doing stunts on a stool as Thorin stood by.
There were various booths with crafts and goods for trade set up and the entire temporary village had a festive feeling to it.
Khan was a suave and polite host and I noted he had several women who attended him. I didn’t probe to discover the relationships any more than he investigated mine. What he was interested in, however, was my tale of the Damsels being held in the village of Beilong. He knew of the perfumery and said that it was so remote because of the smell. Apparently, not all the scents manufactured there were as pleasant as a Damsel’s.
When we returned to the main road, we would be just a few days from Chang’s stronghold. The circus would make its turn toward the west from that point, but Lisa, Cadence, and I would cut east and ride hard to Beilong. With luck, I could negotiate the liberation of the Damsels and we would catch up with the circus within a couple weeks. Until then, Legs would manage it with Thorin’s assistance.
“I might have cause to ride east in a week or so,” Khan mused. “My ladies have wanted me to waylay a caravan with a scent merchant for some time. Might as well get it from the source. Of course, I’ll be approaching Beilong from the north, not the west. Wouldn’t want to upset Lord Chang by crossing through his province.”
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