“
T
he captain is back! The captain is back!” Horace bellowed. He’d helped Ruger, who had fallen out of his saddle a moment earlier, to his feet.
What now?
Sticks thought. She rode back to see what all the commotion was about.
Ruger shook his head, a grim smile forming on his face. He bumped forearms with his original crew, Horace, Vern, Bearclaw, Prospero, and Apollo. Shades sneaked up on Ruger’s back, picked him up, and spun him around.
“Ha, I see you are as slippery as ever, Shades,” Ruger said.
Sticks managed an uncharacteristic frown. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the real Ruger, but she missed Abraham. He was gone again. Ruger was different. He walked differently and talked differently. His voice was polished and carried authority. It wasn’t that Abraham was bad, but he was a different sort of leader, gutsy and all heart. She didn’t know what to make of Ruger yet, but the original Henchmen liked him.
Ruger gazed at the tank rolling up behind the company. He pulled out Black Bane. “The enemy is in our midst!”
“No,” Horace said. “We conquered the metal dragon. It rides with us. Skitts, a Red Tunic, is in the belly.”
Ruger flipped Black Bane over his hand with a twist of the wrist and stuffed it back in the sheath. “I see. Well done, then.”
He eyed Horace and his closest men. They were all painted in white and bare chested. Not a stitch of armor was on them.
“You no longer don the King’s Armor? Your appearance is hardly standard or uniform.”
Vern stepped forward with a crooked sneer on his face. “Abraham did this. It was his idea to use this disguise to fool the Gond.”
“The Gond?”
“The barbarians have laid siege to the House of Steel, Captain,” Horace said. “Disguised as them, we hoped to catch them off guard—cut through their forces and attack. We have hornet blasters. Like them.”
Ruger glanced at his own painted body. Jagged black striping and white were painted all over. He showed a mouthful of white teeth. “I like it. Now, tell me about the Gond.” He slowly spun around with his fists on his hips. “The House of Steel is close, isn’t it?”
“Aye,” Horace said.
“Abraham came up with a foolish idea to disguise ourselves as Gond, win their favor, and attack,” Vern said scornfully.
Ruger stepped over to Vern, looked down at him, and said, “I gather that you take issue with Abraham. Why is that? He is your captain.”
Vern swallowed. “No, you are my—”
Ruger swatted Vern across the face with a loud smack. “You follow that captain. Do you understand that?”
Vern shrank underneath Ruger’s steely gaze. “Yes, Captain.”
“Listen to me, all of you!” Ruger lifted his voice. “There is no time to doubt me or the other. I am the captain. Abraham is the captain! I can see that he has done well to lead you this far. Now, the time has come to finish this quest. Our king, our kingdom, our way of life is in great peril! You cannot doubt. Doubt is death. Do you understand me?”
“Aye, Captain!” the gathering group said.
Ruger marched down the line of men, around the tank, and back to the group. He grabbed Vern by the neck. “I like this plan. The Gond are fierce fighters, but they can be stupid. I would have done something very similar. What would you have done, Vern?”
“I would not have shed my armor. And what happens if they recognize our Brands?” Vern said. “We need a better idea is all.”
“So that is it? That is your plan?” Ruger laughed. “Vern, it does not sound like you are a better creator than Abraham. However, I can see immediately where his plan is flawed. The barbarians might be dumb, but it will take more cunning to fool them.” He climbed back into the saddle of his horse. “Let us ride while I contemplate. Come, Horace, Bearclaw. Advise me.”
Sticks fell to the back of the company with Solomon, out of earshot of Ruger.
With his long, hairy arms swinging by his sides, Solomon said, “A tight-knit group. It looks like you’re now on the outside, looking in.”
“We’re probably better off,” she said dryly.
“I think you should insert yourself. Ruger needs to understand your value.” The crease between his eyes crinkled. “I would.”
“Maybe you should insert yourself.”
“No, that’s not my style. I’m more of a follower than a leader.”
The tank rolled up beside them. Smiling, Shades ran up to the slow-moving tank and climbed on. He saluted Sticks and Solomon and dropped back inside the hatch with Skitts.
“Ruger really does lift them up and out of their boots,” Solomon said. “I like him. He’s different, very military, but I can respect that. I think he’s a man of his word.”
“Yeah,” she mumbled.
“You are a hard one to figure out, do you know that?” Solomon said. “I’ve known a lot of women, but you don’t wear your heart on your sleeve, do you?”
Sticks gave him a look and said, “Life is what it is. I learned long ago that there isn’t much I can do to change it. I do prefer to stay with one personality over another. Is it so bad that I’d like to have continuity?”
“In this crazy world? Huh, I don’t think it is possible. Of course, my world was crazy too.” He reached over and patted her on the back. “I think you need to assert yourself. Horace will back your play.”
Sticks tugged the reins, turning the horse’s head aside. Without a word, she drifted farther back from the group, unable to shake the gnawing inside her stomach. She wiped the corner of her eye and looked up into the heavens. Come back, Abraham. I miss you.