Chapter 6: The Lead

“You get over here! Have you seen a man with grey hair and eyes?” Shouted Hezi, as he rushed a random man down for answers.  “No, sir! I have not, please let me be and if I do I will send word to you!” The shop keeper was trembling. For he did not have any answers that Hezi wanted to hear and feared this day was his last. Slap! “Did you know Lord Henderson’s son was slain? It was jus yesterday that it had happened. A man named X had slayed Samuel and some our kin in our own tavern.”

Hezi had already snatched the man up as if he was he was a shirt. Hezi held the man from his collar bones eyeing him intently. “No! No! I did not know, if I was aware I would have answers for you!” The shop keeper kept from wincing as he could feel Hezi’s fingers slowly start to touch each other. Either his collar bone would break from his weight or Hezi’s fingers would tear though his flesh.

“What is you name?” Demanded Hezi. “I am, I am Vincent. Th, th, this here’s shop owner.” Vincent felt as if he was one the verge of loosing his conscious. The pain was anguishing. Hezi started laughing as he let Vincent go. “Vincent, I like you. You seem intelligent. If you see that man let me know. I will be sure to reward you.” Hezi took a breath from the laughter.

He quickly focused his eyes on Vincent with an icy gaze that made Vincent’s heart almost stop beating. “If you dare mock me, I will disembowel you and replace all of your insides with the heads of your kin.” Vincent turned ghostly pale, and managed to let out a semi-understandable sentence. “Un, un, understand, I, I, I do. M, m, mmmooocking not.” As soon as Hezi herd Vincent’s reply he turned around and said nothing before leaving.

“Israel! Israel!” A voice called off in the distance. There stood a vague silhouette of a man on the horizon of the town. Israel took heed to his name being called and quickly looked in the direction of the voice. It was definitely a man, as he started jumping and waving his hand. Israel wasted to no time as he ran in the opposite direction of the man, to his steed. Israel whistled and the steed rushed to meet him. In mid gallop, Israel caught the saddle and mounted the horse. It was one swift motion. He urged his steed to run towards the man that was on the horizon calling his name.

Slowly the figure started increasing in size and became recognizable. It was his scout, Ishmael. Ishmael looked as if he was about to collapse. Israel wasted no time in asking Ishmael what news he brought. “What were your findings! Is he alone?” Israel did not waste time looking at Ishmael, but sat there rummaging around his saddle bags. Israel had found what he was looking for. It was a water skin! He tossed it to Ishmael and as he caught it, he sat down on the bare earth. “He traveled north by north-west. It is about a half days ride from here.” Ishmael stopped as he took a long drink form the water skin.

As he exhaled he continued, “It is small slope, but uphill. With in the structure there is not a single blind side as everything from the plains are visible.” He took another long drink, before closing it and tossing it back to Israel. “It seems as if he is alone. As I traced his steps, there was only one set; as of now it is still hard to tell. There are movements as it is an inn, and has been for a long time. There is nothing that stood out as if being directly related to that man. He if were to leave it would only be north. He knows that he drew attention to himself. The further he can get from here the better off he will be. I must warn you though, that two days north lies Lord Vazquez territory. We will not be able to follow him though there.” Ishmael knew he had to remind Israel of this.

There was almost a war that broke out last time Samuel and Israel had been there. Since then none of Lord Henderson’s people were allowed to step foot in that place. Lord Henderson would not loose against Lord Vazquez; nor would he win. They are considered to be equals both in arms and resources. To avoid unnecessary casualties, both lords had agreed to stay out of each other territory.

Israels face darkened. He was deep in thought. He thought about all the possibilities and their respected outcomes. It would be hard to find them after they enter Lord Vazquez territory. The best attempt would be to ambush them at the inn. Israel rubbed his wrists and shoulders as Lord Henderson words echoed in his mind. Israel was adamant about not being pulled apart by  horses. Or even worse donkeys! For the donkeys would pull and stop, and this process would continue.

It made him shutter as he remembered witnessing a man that was a victim to them.

The entire process lasted about three days. The man was a traitor. He was caught selling the layout of the estate, and the guard’s patrol routes. There used to be another Lord in the area that wanted to eliminate Lord Henderson. So he secretly bribed one of guards to give him this information. Upon the departure of the guard he was caught and given this death sentence.

The man was starved for 3 days. He was brought out and then covered in honey and only wore a rope. The rope too, was also smothered in honey. Slowly five chains were cuffed to each of his limbs and neck. Then each one was fasten to a donkey. The donkeys slowly played tug of war with the man, over an ant hill. By the third day, the ants had managed to break most of his skin leaving only exposed muscle fibers, joints and bone. The donkeys had not been tended to the entire time. Finally during dusk food and water were brought out and set before them. Each one went wild with what little strength they had left. The man was slowly pulled apart as a wet cloth caught on a tree.

Israel had no concept of time when it came to recalling that death sentence. Even now he jumped and smacked his arms as if there were ants on him already. “Israel?” Ishmael slowly called his name and questioned his well being seeing that he was swatting at something imaginary. Israel looked around. He did not notice that the sun was about to finish setting. “A half days ride? Would we arrive before sunrise?”

Ishmael took a while before answering. “No, the sun would already hung over the plains. Even our shadows would be visible. I suggest resting here, to night and gather more supplies. Tomorrow before noon we will set out and arrive during the night. It will be the perfect time to ambush that man then. For if we go now,  there is a good chance that he will notice us and flee. He will have the advantage for our men would not have rested in a day.” As much as this pained Israel to hear, he knew Ishmael was right.

For he was not just any scout but the best among Lord Henderson’s men. “Fine, I will do as you say. However I need you to go back and continues to keep watch. I will find you a mount, and you must ride there as fast as you can. If you notice that he leaves, start a small enough fire that it would burn out. Do this twice. Once from you observation point before the inn and another one behind the inn. We will find the ashes, and be able to align them to get a clear marking in what direction you are headed. Do not waste any time but do not be rash. We have the advantage since it is our terrain. We must keep the element of surprise.”

Ishmael gave a nod as he understood what needed to be done. “Spare mount” Roared Israel! Quickly a pair of men rode up. One of them got off and gave Ishmael the reigns. Ishmael only turned around once to give a farewell wave of the hand before ridding off.