Hondo drove up the road towards the farm. No current tracks nor old tracks were seen on the road. Hondo thought this odd. he felt that something was wrong so he stopped and shut off the motorcycle. He heard nothing than the normal sounds of the country. He shrugged it off as paranoia from what he had seen and heard so far. The thought that the death of the slavers prisoners was on his head bothered him. He knew it would haunt his thoughts and dreams for the rest of his life. He waned to talk to Fernando about it but there was too much to do at the moment.
Hondo shook it off for the moment and fired the Indian back up. He drove slowly forward. The farm was barely visible through the trees as he rounded a small curve. Hondo came to the one un-burnt barn first. As he did the front of the bike pulled hard and then it went sluggish. He stopped and and gunned the engine. it sounded fine, then he looked down. The tires were both flat. He pulled it off to the side and looked at the road. someone had buried and took care to cover up boards with nails in them on the road. A sort of primitive spike strip. Hondo dug them up and looked up and down the road. he found none behind him so pushed the bike up to the barn, which was still 3/4 of a mile from the main farm house, and left it there. He walked part of the road. about 1/4 of a mile up from the barn he found 6 more boards. after that old track could be seen and the road was more well packed.
He walked back to the barn and looked around. All the doors were shut and it was left alone. why? He wasn't sure, but the whole deal looked to be more than a simple Slaver hit. The whole thing screamed of something more. Hondo pulled his pistol as he opened the barn door. The barn had hay, some equipment inside, and an old, but recently used fro the looks of it, pickup. It was a refurbished ford
COE 4 door from the 50's. The paint was rough but the tires were good on it. Hondo opened the big barn door to let more light in. He looked around at the truck. In the back of the truck were some farm tools. Hondo looked in the cab and saw the keys in the ignition and on the dash a note sat. IT was just a piece of folded paper. On the outside it said, "Joanna". Hondo wasn't sure he should but given the circumstances he read the inside all it said was, "Joanna, I told you you'd rue the day that you were born.
For givin' me the devil 'cos I wouldn't hoe corn." It made no sense to Hondo but it sounded like a threat.
Hondo folded up the note and put it into his pocket. He climbed into the truck and tried to start it. Much to his surprise it roared to life on the third try. It had a full tank of fuel and had been modified to a diesel and 4x4. He put the truck in gear and pulled out of the barn. he went slow toward the farm house, watching the road for traps. no traps were found. As he approached the house he was sickened but glad he was there first. @ younger men lay dead on the drive, farm hands from the look. both had shotguns with them. But they were not what caught Hondo's eye first. From an old oak in the yard hung two charred corpses. It looked like they were strangle hung over a fire, so they suffocated and burnt at the same time. On the tree hung a piece of paper that said, "they won't be hoeing corn now either." Hondo shook his head at the carnage. A kitten crawled out of the ruins of the house. it mewed at Hondo. It was obviously tame, but it was scared and hungry. Hondo hunkered down and called to it. it walked up to him cautiously. Hondo pet it gently when it got close enough. it then climbed up on him, rubbing and purring. He took it to the truck and put it inside. He didn't have any food on him but hopefully it would be fine until later. As he shut the door of the truck he heard a bark. He turned around to see a boarder collie standing at the back tree line.
Hondo: It's alright boy.
Te dog barked and spun a circle. it looked at Hondo then where he came from. it repeated this several times.
Hondo: You want me to follow you, fella?
The dog barked and turned circles. Hondo walked towards him and the dog ran off a bit. Hondo stopped and the dog stopped and repeated his performance.
Hondo: I take that as a yes.
Hondo followed the dog a ways to a half burnt cabin. The dog ran inside. Hondo carefully followed. Inside an old man lay, wounded. He had bled a lot but the bleeding had stopped. He was breathing but raggedly.
Hondo knelt down by him to check him. as he moved his hand to check the old mans would the old man grabbed his arm and opened his eyes.
Hondo: Settle down, old timer. I'm here to help.
Old man: It's too late for me.
Hondo: Not sure how ya made it this long.
Old man: I tried to die but this dog wouldn't let me.
Hondo: Who are you?
Old man: I'm Tom. I am a freind of the family here and help work the farm.
Hondo: I'm Hondo.
Tom: The family! what . . what happened.
Hondo: You need to rest now.
Tom: No! I'm dying. I need to know.
Hondo: My friend and I rescued the 4 girls from the slavers and found 2 young boys in a car wreck outside town.
Tom: Ruth? Joanna?
Hondo: yes, and Esther, Susanna, Howard, and Earl.
Tom: Frank? Amos? Velma? Maratha? Jim? Troy? Bob? Samantha?
Hondo: Sorry. Don't know those names.
Tom looked down: Oh.
Hondo: I'm sorry. there are 4 dead men here. the farm was burnt. In the wreck we found the boys there was a dead couple an' I think I found the girls mother amoungst some prisoners the slavers killed.
Tom: So you invoked their purge protocol?
Hondo: I didn't know. I'm sorry.
Tom: Never, *cough, cough*, never be sorry for doing right! We should have stood up to them years ago. I wanted to. I stood with the Sacketts when they asked us too. Too many folks were afraid. They threatened them. Damned spirits stepped in and Told the sacketts if they moved against the slavers they would die. You look a lot like old man Sackett.
Hondo: I am he, but frm the past. It's hard to explain.
Tom: Damn! I knew you'd do it!
Hondo: What?
Tom: I knew you were a time traveler. you showed me. you said someday your past self would come and you and the Time Lord would take the slavers down and rock the spirits world! He and some small factions of spirits that believe they should have left humanity alone were supposedly working out how to get you here and when to. By god, They did it and I lived to see you get here. *cough, cough* too bad I won't see you suceed.
Hondo: We'll get you help.
Tom: Don't waste your time. I'll be with my adopted family, in heaven here shortly. All I ask is you keep those girls and boy safe and bury me and the dead in the family grave yard to the west ot the house.
Hondo: I will.
Tom: Promise!
Hondo: I promise.
Tom's breath got ragged. He looked up at the ceiling.
Tom: I'm coming Elizabeth!
He gave a couple more labored, ragged breaths and died.
Hondo grabbed a blanket and covered the body. He looked around an found a trap out back. He walked back to the farm yard and cut down the two charred bodies. He put them in the bed of the truck and hauled them to the grave yard. two more trips with the truck he had all 5 bodies laid by the grave yard, covered with a tarp and he started digging graves.
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After Chaos (Read 185733 times)
