24 "I'm beginning to get an idea!"
Bright Sword explained. "But I will need your help, Gray Dog, and
another volunteer."
25 Gray Dog nodded and the plans were made.
26 Gray Deer often marveled at the way
Bright Sword led men, or, for that matter, women. They would
follow her into the greatest danger without the slightest
hesitation. Her courage and wisdom seemed to be imparted to
others. And they all worked together like a well-oiled machine.
27 Within an hour thirty men were in
position outside the front of The Turtle's Nest, and ten more waited at
its back. The Healer came down the street, a large figure in
Speaker's robes beside him. They knocked at the gate and a man
with a lantern appeared. "What do you want?" the man asked
gruffly.
28 "It's me," explained the Healer.
"I've been summoned again! Come on, hurry up! I'm busy
tonight!"
29 "Who's that with you?" the man asked.
30 "My new assistant. I'm training him. Come on! Hurry up! I have other calls to make!"
31 "Nobody told me they sent for you," answered the guard. "I'd better go check."
32 "I have no time to wait," explained The
Healer. Tell your master I was here and will get back when I
can. But it probably won't be until morning."
33 The guard got a frightened look on his
face. "Well, you've been here enough," he said, "I guess it's all
right."
34 He undid the gate and let them in. As
he turned to relock the latch, a great fist struck him behind the ear,
and he sank to the ground. The Healer dragged him out of the way
as several men rushed to the gate and boosted Screaming Bear to the
balcony.
35 He walked its length and descended the
stair, staggering as he did so. "Nice place you got here," he told the
guard, "But I gotta get goin'! Can I get out this way?"
36 "Sure," the guard shrugged. He turned,
unlatched the gate, and suddenly found himself in a deadly
embrace...two strong arms wrapped around his neck! He struggled
for a moment and his feet came off the ground. There was a
snapping sound, and he went limp.
37 Screaming Bear swung the gate open, and
quiet as shadows The Children Of Spirit entered, two taking up position
by each door.
38 Screaming Bear descended the stairs and
walked up to the guard at the back door, two other men behind
him. A swift blow to the stomach and one to the back of the head
and this man was no longer a problem.
39 With the back door open, Screaming Bear took a whistle from his robe and blew it twice.
40 Upstairs doors were kicked open and
struggling men dragged outside, while bewildered women looked on in
confusion. The party the master of the house was giving was rudely
interrupted as armed men entered and dragged his guests off their women.
41 "What is the meaning of this?" the master
asked. "This is a respectable house! How dare you break in here?"
42 The men and women were brought down from
upstairs and up from the cellar. What the attackers had found
there appalled them! There were cages with naked men and women in
them; some of them only boys and girls. Some were missing eyes,
fingers, toes, or, had hideous scars on their bodies.
43 Those in the cellar had not heard the
attackers, because the woman they had strapped to the table in the
middle of the room had been screaming too loud.
44 "It appears," said Gray Deer, "your
respectable house leaves much to be desired! Bind them! We
will leave these women here to testify. Which one of you is
Little Red Blossom?"
45 A girl came forward trying to cover herself
in what was left of a torn dress. "I am she," she answered.
46 "Your sister is at my house," Gray Deer told her. "You will be taken there immediately."
47 "You can't take her," said the master of
the house, "she is my property, bought and paid for. I have papers to
prove it. She must earn back her purchase price."
48 "Whoever sold her," said Gray Deer, "took
her by force, and you know as well as I, that no contract made under
those circumstances is legal. Take her out of here! We have
enough witnesses...she does not need to say what has been done to her!"
49 The girl was barely out the door, when a
Warlock and several fighting people appeared. "What is going on
here?" he asked. "Who is responsible for this?"
50 "I am," answered Gray Deer, "the women kept
in this house have been taken against their will, and there is a
torture chamber in the cellar."
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