Whistlestop (23 page)

There was a commotion at the outer
edge of the crowd as someone was pushing their way toward the
center. After a few seconds, Commandant Brad Lincoln shoved his way
into the opening to confront the stranger who stood facing the
opposite direction. “What’s the meaning of this?” he screamed. She
turned and smiled at him. “Lilian? Lilian Winslow? How did you get
here? Is your father here too?”

“
Hello Mr. Lincoln, how
have you been?”

“
You shouldn’t be here,
Lilian. This is not a safe place to be.”

One of the prisoners shouted, “Without
your guards, it is not safe for you either, Commandant!” Brad
looked around at the angry faces, knowing each one of them would
love to rip him to shreds.

“
Let’s kill him before the
monsters return!” shouted another voice.

“
No!” Lilian shouted in a
massive voice that reverberated throughout the camp. Everyone
became quiet. “All of this is a mistake. This man is not the
monster you think he is. He has just been raised poorly and
forgotten his true past. He was stolen from his family when he was
a small baby. His mother and unborn sister were slaughtered by
Linger Bartholomew Breakneck.”

“
That is a lie!” Brad
shouted. “My biological father sold me into slavery. Linger is the
only real father I have even known.”

“
Kill him!” another
prisoner shouted and the crowd surged toward him. Before they could
move more than two feet, they all froze in place. Brad was cowering
on the ground with his arms over his head.

After a few seconds, he looked up to
see what had happened. “You see, Lilian, my father has already come
to save me. You should not have come.”

“
The tattooed demon will
not harm anyone on this planet again. I will not allow
it.”

“
You’re just a little
girl.” Now Brad was frozen in place as well.

Lilian began walking around the circle
of prisoners, touching their hands and caressing their faces. Their
eyes followed her but they remained frozen. “I am so sorry about
all of this. It is my family that caused the emperor to come here
and take over our planet. He was so desperate to kill us that took
out his revenge on the entire world. But I am here today to tell
you that soon you will be free again and life will return to
normal. Unfortunately, you will all have to stay here for a while
longer. The emperor must think he is still in control. My great
grandfather and I will make sure everyone on Earth has enough food
and water. We will keep the guards weak and weary so they do not
work you so hard. When the time is right, we will restore your
cities and return you to your homes. This awful time will not have
happened, although you will remember it as a bad dream.” She walked
over to Brad and touched him and he disappeared. The prisoners
became unfrozen.

“
Please don’t make us stay
here, Lilian?” a woman begged.

“
How do we stop the guards
from killing us?”

“
How do we know what you
say is true?”

“
Is that a bird on your
shoulder?” the girl holding the cat asked. The bird flew over and
landed on the other girl’s head making her giggle.

Lilian motioned with her arm and said,
“Come with me.” She pushed her way through the crowd until she
reached the outside edge. Two hundred yards ahead, several hundred
monsters stood with their axes held high. She took the hands of the
people next to her and said, “Do not be afraid!”

The monsters rushed forward, screaming
at the top of their lungs.

“
We’re all going to die!”
the woman holding Lilian’s right hand said.

“
Do not be afraid!” Lilian
demanded.

“
I can’t move my feet,
Lilian, please let us run,” another prisoner begged.

“
Do not be
afraid!”

People began to cry and tremble. When
the beasts were thirty feet away, Lilian pulled her hands free. Ten
feet later, she extended her arms up and outward. There was a
terrible clanging sound as all the axes crashed to the ground. The
guards had become butterflies and surged like a wave of color over
the prisoners. The crowd began to cheer and applaud. A man picked
Lilian up and put her on his shoulders.

“
How did you do
that?”

“
It’s a
miracle?”

“
Are you a
wizard?”

“
The guards will return to
their normal forms in a few hours,” she started. “They will not
report this incident to their master because they will be afraid to
face him. They all understand that I will not allow them to harm
you. These demons now know their limitations. Please make the best
of your time here and know you are safe. I have set up a large
banquet for you all.” She motioned to her right where one hundred
tables were laden with food and drink. “And know that my great
grandfather and I are watching over you.” She
disappeared.

Jeremiah, Jerry and their group left
Valiant shortly after lunch. A line of small bundle-laden horses
and others pulling wagons held their supplies. Jeremiah rode on
Montrose’s shoulders. Jerry walked next to him. Lynn rode a small
white horse. Simplot and the new sprites drove the wagons, while
Isolde flew overhead to look for recruits or attackers. The odds of
an attack were very small since most ogres lived peacefully and the
empire did not want to risk a second defeat. “Where do we start,
Jeremiah? This is an entire planet!”

“
Yes, I know that Jerry,”
the elf replied. “First we need more ogres. Do you know where we
can find Antoine, Montrose?”

“
In the forest singing, I
suppose.”

“
I met him!” Jerry
exclaimed.

Isolde flew down to just over the
ogre’s head and said, “Yes, Jerry and I went for a stroll after our
dinner the other night. We found Antoine composing a new poem in a
clearing. That was when the fairies took him away.”

“
Please lead us to that
clearing, Isolde,” Jeremiah said. She nodded and flew ahead. “You
see, ogres like epic poetry, strong drink and good cheese. Once we
have Antoine and maybe one or two other poets, we can attract a
cheese-maker and distiller. With those resources, the woodland
ogres will be happy to join.”

“
Be careful, Jeremiah,
woodland ogres not the most trustworthy,” Montrose
stated.

“
True, but we need them to
help convince a yeti or troll to join with us.”

“
What?” Montrose
bellowed.

Simplot had flown forward and joined
them. “I have to agree with Montrose on that, Jeremiah. Yetis and
trolls are very dangerous, perhaps more dangerous to their allies
than their enemies.”

“
But they can fight!” the
elf exclaimed. “One troll can do the fighting of fifty elves. Even
the Evil One’s demons will think twice before attempting to face
them.”

“
Same with us, Jeremiah,”
Montrose noted.

Lynn rode forward on her horse. “We
have a problem already.” They all looked at her. “Montrose, does
the name Pernicious mean anything to you?”

“
Oh no!” the ogre groaned
“Is he nearby?” She nodded and pointed toward a small rise not far
ahead. He picked Jeremiah from his shoulder and set him down.
“Let’s go!” The ogre and white horse raced ahead. Montrose was on
all fours and Lynn had to struggle to keep up with him.

“
Double-time!” Jerry barked
and the convoy hurried ahead.

Montrose crowned the hill first and
stopped to look around. At the bottom of the hill sat a huge ogre,
at least fifteen feet tall at the shoulders. Pernicious sat near
Isolde, who had been shot with an arrow and hardly moved. As Lynn
and her horse reached the top of the hill, Montrose shouted “No!”
and rushed ahead.

“
Stop Montrose!” she
yelled. “You don’t know what he might do!” He did not slow and
continued at top speed toward the other ogre, which was now
crouched in a defensive position, ready to fight.

As he neared the other ogre, he
wondered why he had not charged, which was very unusual for an ogre
of his reputation. Montrose began to slow down and was walking on
his hind legs when he got within twenty feet of the other.
“Pernicious, what happened here?”

“
Brother, I swear on my
life I thought she was a bird. My God, my soul is lost now. I’ve
killed a sprite.” Tears rolled down his cheeks.

Montrose walked over to Isolde and
touched her forehead. “Isolde? Can you hear me?”

“
Simplot, is that you?” she
whispered.

“
It’s Montrose, my
darling.”

“
Don’t blame the ogre. He
made a mistake, that’s all.” She coughed.

Lynn rode up to them and dismounted.
Five sprites were flying forward as fast as their wings could carry
them, holding their swords at the ready. “Let me help,” she said as
she knelt next to Isolde.

“
You are a seer, not a
doctor,” Isolde sighed.

The sprites flew around Pernicious’
head, waving their blades in a warning. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean
to do this,” he cried.

“
If she dies, you die,”
Simplot threatened.

“
Kill me then, I have
nothing else to live for.”

“
I will heal you, Isolde,
but this will hurt a lot,” Lynn said. She grabbed the end of the
arrow and wrenched it out of the sprite’s abdomen. Isolde screamed
in pain and more blood poured out. Jerry and the rest of the
caravan arrived at the bloody scene. Lynn put her hands on Isolde’s
abdomen and pressed. The others could see the blood coming off the
ground and going back into the sprite’s body. A gaping hole opened
in Lynn’s stomach and her blood began to ooze out. Lynn and Isolde
were both crying in agony.

Jerry rushed over to help his wife but
had no idea what to do. “Lynn, you’re killing yourself,
stop!”

Lynn pulled her hands from Isolde and
cupped Jerry’s face and kissed him lightly. Isolde’s wound was
healed and she sat up. Lynn’s blood began to move back into her
body and the hole shrank. Within a few seconds, she was healed as
well. “Not bad for a housewife from San Diego, huh?” She kissed
Jerry again and then turned to Isolde, “How do you
feel?”

“
Like it never even
happened.”

“
Good.” Lynn rose and
walked over to Pernicious who still held his head down, awaiting
his execution by the sprites. She stroked his cheek and said, “It’s
okay now. It never happened, Pernicious.”

He looked up to see the sprites
surrounding Isolde, hugging her and amazed by the healing. “I still
shot her and deserve to die.”

“
Don’t be stupid, Brother,”
Montrose said.

Jerry pulled his long sword and walked
up to the massive ogre. “So, you want to die, is that right?” He
waved his sword threateningly. “Shall I carry out your
execution?”

“
Jerry, what are you
doing?” Jeremiah asked.

“
Do what you want, human. I
will not fight back. The jugular is always a good
choice.”

“
So, it’s about what I want
then.” Pernicious nodded his head. “Good! Because what I want is
for you to join our army and help us defeat the Empire of Axis! At
least that way your eventual death will have meant
something!”

He looked at Jerry and replied, “We
cannot defeat the empire, human. It would be a suicide
mission.”

“
I thought you wanted to
die?”

He gave Jerry a confused look and
turned to Montrose. “What is he talking about?”

“
This mere human is one of
the last Knights of Winterpast,” Montrose explained. “He and his
wife are angelseed. How else could she have healed Isolde? This
meager elf is Jeremiah Beetleweed Mosscatcher. You must remember
that name!”

“
I fought with your
brother.”

“
And we pushed the empire
away from this realm,” Jeremiah added. “With your help, we can get
yetis and trolls to join us, Pernicious. Then we will be truly
invincible.”

“
You trust them?”
Pernicious scoffed.

“
We have a secret weapon,
my friend.”

“
We do?” Jerry asked.
Jeremiah only nodded his head.

Lilian and her great grandfather were
back at the hillside wooden temple. They walked together into the
small bedroom where Lilian had awoken only hours ago. Brad Lincoln
sat quietly in the corner, unsure what to do next. “Hi Mr. Lincoln,
I am really sorry about this,” she apologized.

Brad had been crying at the
helplessness of his situation. “Please don’t kill me, Lilian. I was
only doing as I was told.”

Emmanuel leaned down and kissed Lilian
on the head, saying, “I’ll wait outside, sweetheart. You have done
very well.” He turned and walked out, closing the sliding
door.

“
What are you going to do
with me?” Brad whined.

“
I am going to send you
back to your prison camp, Commandant, after we have a
chat.”

“
But my father will punish
me for my failure. It wasn’t my fault! What kind of monster are
you?”