Wanted

Chapter 18

He was in luck. Edwards had not gone back to the pantry during the night. 

Edwards had not been lying when he had told him he would leave early. The man woke him at five thirty and had his breakfast already waiting for him. 

While John ate, Edwards finished packing up what he intended to bring on the trip.

The good mood from the previous evening gone, Edwards was grumpy again, and John was wondering whether the man just wasn't a morning person or maybe was hungover again. Three times he threatened to leave him behind if he didn't make a move on, which told John he was walking on thin ice with him and that maybe Edwards had changed his mind and was looking for an excuse not to bring him. The idea that the man was regretting his offer to take him along stung and had it not been for Mrs Edwards sitting beside him watching his every move, he would have maybe considered to stay back voluntarily. He didn't fancy the idea of imposing his unwanted company on anyone, least of all a bad-tempered Edwards but between staying and going this was the lesser of two evils, he hoped and he genuinely wanted to learn how to fish as well.

Mrs Edwards waited for the last minute to make her attack. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, armed with a spoon and the bottle of Parker's Ginger Tonic at the ready like the previous day, in front of an already impatient Edwards, she ordered John to come and stand in front of her with a confident and evil grin. He could see the surprise in her eyes when he obediently and without hesitation did just that, waiting and watching unwaveringly for her to pour the offending liquid onto the large spoon in her hand, with his hands clasped behind his back, nervously wringing them out of sight where she could not see them.

Her surprise changed into smugness, and just for a moment John feared that she might have discovered his counter trickery and had changed it all back again, but then he could smell it and with a smile in his eyes, he opened his mouth and saw how the woman looked at him in sheer disbelief. She of course recognised her husband's alcoholic drink just as quickly. The liquid was of a completely different consistency and colour, and a very distinct smell, while the 'shits oil' had almost no smell at all.

She opened and closed her mouth as if she wanted to say something but did not know what. "You...," was all she mustered, and then repeated it again, "you...!"

"Is there a problem," Edwards asked gruffly, possibly still looking for an excuse to leave John behind, but being caught off guard, his wife was not as confident as before, and fearing she could be found out she quickly composed herself and spooned two portions of the alcoholic beverage into John's mouth. Having given him the 'tonic', she looked deep into his eyes with an insincere smile while she started to gently caress his earlobe and then with that horrible sickly-sweet voice told them both, to be careful and to stay safe, while John didn't let on that she dug the long nail of her thumb painfully into his earlobe and he was too stunned to even complain.

When John walked out of the house the first thing he noticed was Edwards' massive two horses standing outside tied to the garden fence, saddled up, with full bags hanging down on either side of them and a rifle and a fishing rod sticking in a long leather sleeve hanging from Samson' saddle. It obviously was not just a simple walk down to the river, and the thought of having to travel horseback had John almost want to back out. The thought of spending the day in the house with Mrs Edwards however was enough to convince him that he didn't need to. "It's okay to be afraid his mother used to say, but it doesn't mean you should be a coward," was another piece of advice, that had often helped him get through difficult times.

John made a wide circle around the horses to get to Edwards who shook his head disapprovingly as he lifted John onto Goliath's back. "Darn this horse is big," John gasped as he tried to get comfortable in the saddle while Edwards adjusted the stirrups to suit John' small size.