Horde (Razorland #3)(89)

My dream hung in tatters, and though we were doing some good, I was failing at keeping my men safe and healthy. I didn’t have the experience for this, but the problem was, nobody did. Humans had cowered in their settlements for so long that they had forgotten how to fight without terrible potions and mysterious poisons. The only information we had came from Morrow’s stories—and I still needed to ask him about those.

There should be time in Soldier’s Pond.

The guards came out to meet the wagons, offering safe escort, and that was just as well, as I didn’t think my men had any fight in them. The townsfolk might complain about us appearing to gobble up their provisions, but they wouldn’t have these trade goods from Gaspard without us. And Soldier’s Pond was far from self-sufficient.

“Thank you,” the trader said as the caravan passed the town’s defenses. “We’d have died on the road if not for your men.”

His name was Marlon Bean, and I expected him to add his story to the ones circulating from Vince Howe and John Kelley. In the long run, their goodwill might save Company D, but for the moment, I merely nodded and led the soldiers to a much-desired homecoming. The guards had all kinds of questions, but I hushed them with an impatient gesture. It wasn’t until I saw Tegan’s brows go up that I realized how used to command I had become.

I frowned at her as I called, “I’m giving all of you forty-eight-hours’ leave. The mess is over there … stick with a local if you don’t know the way. Once you’ve eaten, find the bathhouse. Then locate a bunk and get some rest. Some of you need your wounds wrapped or bandages changed. I don’t think anybody’s likely to die overnight, so see Tegan and me in the morning. We’ll fix you up. That’s all. And enjoy the break.”

The men surged off, grateful to be out of the wilderness. I knew how they felt.

Fade beckoned with a stern look. “That order to rest goes for you too.”

Since I was dizzy by this point, I let him tow me toward the mess. If we were off schedule, I’d make the cook open the kitchen myself. Fortunately, however, Colonel Park was on top of things. She met us in the hall and she had two extra workers in tow so they could make more food quickly. As usual, it was tasteless, but we were all so hungry I would’ve happily eaten a bucket of the mushroom porridge they gave us down below.

As we ate, I realized belatedly that we’d sat in a cluster of officers. Nothing so formal had ever been declared, of course, but I always turned to Fade, Tegan, Thornton, Tully, Morrow, or Spence when I needed something. And here we sat, nobody else at our table. I wouldn’t have sent anyone else away, but I guessed the others figured this was our inner circle, and we had clever plans to make. Or maybe they just wanted a break from the lot of us. I listened to the conversation with half an ear; it was an important issue, but I lacked the drive to tackle the problem straightaway when I had forty-seven hours of freedom.

“We have to ask all towns in the territory for a tithe,” Thornton was arguing.

Morrow protested, “But we can’t make them give us supplies.”

Spence scowled, gesturing with his spoon so that he was in danger of losing the stewed poultry and dough he’d scooped up. “We can refuse to protect them if they choose not to.”

It sounded hard, but maybe he was right. If they weren’t willing to tighten their belts and donate to the soldiers keeping the horde at bay, then they could deal with the consequences. In so many ways, I’d bitten off more than I could chew; some days, only pure stubbornness kept me pushing forward when I felt so stupid, the least suitable person to be leading Company D.

Morrow shook his head, however. “Fear and intimidation won’t serve long-term. They’ll only come to see us as tyrants, the reasons their families are going hungry.”

“There’s also the matter of hauling provisions,” Fade said. “If we have wagons full of supplies, rather than just what we each carry, then it slows our movements. And we lack the numbers to face the horde head-on.”

He was right about that. Before we joined up with the Gaspard traders, we’d sent scouts to Appleton, trying to get a handle on the actual number and there were still too many to count. It was impossible to send someone all through town, but from what Sands told us, the Freaks were living in the town, not ransacking it. They hadn’t damaged the buildings; they were moving in and out of the houses like people, and that alarmed me as much as anything I’d heard.

“We won’t solve this over dinner,” Tully said at last. “Why don’t we talk to the colonel tomorrow and see what she suggests? Her family has always been in the military and she’s got a lot of old books full of historical campaigns.”

I leveled a look at Morrow. The last time we were here, I’d noticed how he kissed the colonel on her cheeks, though he wasn’t her husband. With a single raised brow, I invited him to elaborate, but he held his silence, and I made up my mind that I’d unearth his secrets before we moved out again.

Counsel

After a bath came a joyous reunion with my family. Each time I returned, they seemed a little surprised, as if they had secretly resigned themselves to my loss. Momma Oaks was thrilled with how the company had taken to her banner, but she wept when she heard about Stalker. I hugged her tight, fighting tears, and Edmund patted my shoulder, awkward as he always was with strong emotion.

“Where’s Rex?” I asked, stepping back.