CHAPTER 4 HUNTIN'
So's I stayed down there, with her. I had the rooms next at hers in the Inn, so's l could watch over her. Not that it semed ta make any differece. She were different after that; resigned, hard even, like all her faith had jus' disappeared. Oh, she talked an' did the same things she had always done, but that innocence I'd tried so hard ta protect were gone.
An' me, well it didn' take long . Within six monts l controlled the Underground. Silver Lady an' l, we made quite a team. An' those that wouldn' fall inta line – well, we jus' gave 'em the Kenny Special! Settled a few scores too, like the shit –bag guards that left Kuchel when my boss came by, an' the stair way 'night guards' that my boss had bribed ta get a key ta Kuchel's rooms, an' a whole lot o' others who had helped him. Even managed ta get the sons-o'-bitches that had killed Ma an' Pa, an' those they worked for. An' afore long, l got me a new nick-name; 'Kenny the Ripper' they started callin' me. Yep, business was boomin'!
That power ,Jas, it were like bein' a God. No one could beat me. I knew afore they even did, jus' what they was gonna do. An' l were so's lighnin' fast. Still the same now. An' l saw the world for what it really is – a sewer, filled with filth. An' people for who they really was –jus' greedy, drunkin' cheats, liars an' killers.
An' they call US the vermon!
Not gonna lie.. even taday, l could jus' kill 'em all, with no secon' thought. Even my rule 'bout no hits on family men went out the winda, 'cause l could see that the world would be betta off without the scum.
But l needed more, an' so's l started makin' trips 'bove groun' ta Mitras. I were careful like; at firs' only at night 'cause l needed ta find out what my boss had on us that were 'nice an' safe', ready ta go ta the Military Police. An' l didn' know – had it already been sent? Were it like automatically sent if he didn' return from the Underground? I were perdy sure that weren' the case by now. 'Cause he'd been dead six months an' no one had a come a sniffin'. An' no raids by the Military Police, 'cept the usual ta make sure the workers weren' rippin' off the good citizens o' Mitras by fakin' the weight o' the coal we shipped up there. But, l still didn' know who he'd told ' bout me an' Kuchel. How much did his men know when they was investigatin'? Did they know it were me they was investigtin'? Was they ordered ta turn me inta the Military Police, if he didn' come back? An' cause l didn' know, l were real careful.
Before things could get bedda, l had ta find that evidence, the investigtors, an' who he'd told.
It took a while, an' there were many a time where l had ta hold myself (an' Silver Lady – she's got quite a temper) in check, but 'ventually l learned all l needed ta know.
He had nothin'. Nothin'!
It were all jus' a bluff. He jus' wanted ta chain me an' Kuchel ta him, knowin' we'd make him the richest, mos' powerful o' the underworld mob bosses!
All that were left now were ta find the ol' guy that my boss's men had found , who remembered me an' my family. I knew he weren' no threat, cause no one could find him. An' they jus' assumed he was dead, but l needed ta know what he knew. Or see his decomposin' body for myself!
I knew it'd take me away from the Underground an' Kuchel for months, 'cause l had no idea where ta look, 'cept for "the outskirts 'round Wall Sina", my boss had said. An that were a perdy big area. But l weren' no use ta Kuchel now anyways. She were still quiet an' resigned. No more did she ask eagerly 'bout goin' ta the suface, or not wanna leave my side. 'Twere like she were in her own little world now, jus' makin' it through each day. The nightmares still came, not as often now, but she seemed ta find more comfort in the Innkeeper's wife, Martha, than in me. Guess it were a mother thing; that she could pretend that she were a child again. An' in the dark 'twere easier for her ta pretend that the soft arms that held her close was Ma's. Knowin' that after nearly seven months, that there weren' much more that l could do for her, l decided to leave her with Bob an' Martha. They was amenable, an' she were ta work in the bar sometimes ta help out. Kuchel even seemed kinda pleased, well pleased is puttin' it too strongly, but yeah 'pleased' ta have some thing ta do an' spend more time with Martha. Hell, in a few months she'd be eighteen an' prob'ly end up workin' there anyway now she weren' concentatin' on her lessons no more. 'Sides, now our plans for getting' out o' here an' livin' in Mitras had gone ta shit, that were prob'ly her only option. Unless l could change it.
' Cause it still weren' safe 'bove ground for an Ackerman, even if we didn' have a price on our heads or a target on our back, 'cause any Ackerman were still pesecuted by the King's laws. An' 'til that were changed, our lives wouldn' change. l needed ta know why? Why was we persecuted an' hunted? Why was we so hated? We didn' look no different ta regular folks or talk no worse than the hunters from the villages in the woods of Wall Rose. So why us?
I figured that the only way l could make Kuchel betta was ta keep my original promise, an' get her out o' the Underground. Then she'd smile again, an' that lost happines she once had would return. Then it'd be betta. An' even though we'd have the same King an' the same laws; if l ran, NO. WHEN l ran the underworld in Mitras, maybe she could come up for visits 'til we got a new king. An' 'ventually Uri would inherit the throne, an' with his kind – hearted ways, things was sure ta change. I thought 'bout maybe tryin' ta kill the King we already had, jus' ta speed things up a little, but he weren' no Uri. He never left the palace. An' my aquaintance with Uri weren' nearly strong enough ta get me anywhere near the palace, let alone the King. So l went huntin'.
Huntin' for the old guy my boss had spoke of, hidin' my name, my accent, my appearance an' livin' in the shadows 'til l reached the outskirts of Wall Sina, startin' with the village where I were born. An' I started to make my way around it's perimetre; goin' from village ta village, posin' as a horse trader. But nothin'. I were beginin' ta think that my sack – o' – shit former boss had lied 'bout there bein' an ol' guy too, the way he'd lied 'bout havin' evidence. But if he had lied, then how did he find out we was Ackermans? Or were that jus' a guess? Nah, he were way too sure of that. That were his trump card that he were so sure would tie us to him.
Pretendin' ta be a horse trader kept folks from bein' suspicious an' loosened tongues so's l could find out information without askin' a lot o' questions. 'Cause them out there in the country side always had a horse or two ta help 'em work the land or go huntin'. An' l knew that the only ones who couldn' afford a horse would be Ackermans. But that weren' the case. Folks bought the horses l had taken from travellers I'd killed, or if they didn' it were 'cause they didn' need 'em.
Mitras is big, as ya know Jas, but out there, the outskirts is fuckin' vast, full o' little villages – some with only a couple o' families, some with whole towns. It musta taken me 'bout eight months ta even get a whisper o' what sounded like an Ackerman family. An' from all places, it came from a pastor's wife.
Givin' me some tea an' scones after seein' me tired fom my 'sellin', she offered me refreshments an' brought me inside ta rest in her parlour, that over looked the church gardens. I tied up my 'stock,' ( two perdy, strong brown mares, I'd jus' stolen from a couple o' folks on their way ta the capital. Nup, they weren' goin' anywhere ever again. But l did remember my manners an' thanked them kindly for their donation as l stood over their crumpled, bloody bodies). An' l followed her inside.
The sun were beatin' down hard an' l was sweatin' so's l accepted her offer o' refreshments gladly. She were a God – fearin' woman, believed in the sanctity o' the walls an' the safety o' Paradise, an' her husband, the preacher, looked after the folks o' the area an' kept 'em true believers. So's we got chattin' 'bout what a nice part o' the world this were an' how they don' get many strangers there, 'cept for traders like me an' how most o' the families had lived there for three or four generations.
"It's a quiet place", she said. "Just the way we Godly people like it. People aren't quarrelsome and don't have to stuggle to make ends meet. Especially now they've all reclaimed their lands from the filth that had once tried to claim it for themseleves. The last hold out was an old man, some fifty miles away, but he'd gotten sick and couldn't fight anymore, thank God, so the Militaty Police were finally able to overwhelm him. This time they didn't move him on, which is how he ended up here, but took him to Mitras and are holding him under house arrest."
I asked what she ment about the Military Police 'finally' bein' able ta overwhelm him? If he was old, why had it been so hard?
She explained how he'd always jus' seemed to know when they was a comin' for him or were able ta over power any threats ta him made by his neighbours. She didn' know how, but said that the whole district was glad he'd gotten what he deserved an' now theys was jus' a God – fearin', good community 'cause the trash had been takin' out.
I asked if she knew his name, an' her face hardened.
"You a friend of his or somethin'? Is that why you're here?" she spat.
"No ma'm", l replied."I'm sorry. Jus' a stranger's curiousity. I ain' never heard nothin' like it in all my travels. My 'poligies ma'm."
"Well you can keep your 'ma'm' an' get your tail outta here. Outta here and out of the district, if you know what's good for you! We don't take kindly to trouble makers, and it occurs to me that, that's exactly what you are- a trouble maker; poking your nose into things that don't concern you. Now, take your hat and leave! GOOD DAY!"she finished, nearly pushin' me out the door.
But it didn' bother me none, Jas, 'cause l finally had my answer! This was the guy, an' by the sounds o' it, he were an Ackerman too. He had somethin' like l had, where ya jus' know. An' if he were so's ol' an' sick, why would he be guarded by the Military Police, unless he had been 'xceptionly strong once? That kinda strength ain' natural.
I left for Mitras immediately, released the horses l didn' need – let some poor slob think that all his birthdays had come at once, in findin' a couple o' free horses. I didn' care! I wanted ta go straight ta search for the ol' dude, but I knew l had ta go back an' see Kuchel an' make sure my boys runnin' the Underground were keepin' everyone in line an' collectin' their payments an' not rippin' me off. 'Cause that were like rippin' Kuchel off. An' Silver Lady didn' like that.
I'd been away too long. I jus' hoped things hadn' gone ta shit when l got back, otherwise I'd have ta take over the whole racket all over again. But l had me a couple o' good ol' boys, so's l were perdy confiden' that l jus' needed ta do my collectin' an' then l could see Kuchel, maybe bring her a couple o' presents ta make her ( hopefully) smile. An' though l knew Kuchel had my money from the rackets an' was bartendin' some. An' l knew Bob an' Martha would be lookin' out for her, it were my duty ta make sure that she were safe.'