Hokum

A Goat Named Jed

4

The Chilli was watching Jack intently. She watched as he was lying on the bed and asking questions. She watched as he got up and skirted himself in a small blanket Amber provided. She watched as he took a drink of water from the bottle in his bag. But she watched him with even greater intrigue as he unloaded the Glock of its magazine, the bullet from the chamber, and placed the gun on the table for Amber to take a better look at. And then the chilli just kept on staring as Amber took measurements of Jack’s bare torso in order to design a holster for him. Things were getting very uncomfortable.

Amber had taken many of her tools and leather products down into the basement in order to work on Jack’s holster while the three of them were in hiding - and she did just that, carefully drawing out an outline for her first cut of leather as Jack stood and had a staring contest with the Chilli. The first time he had stared into the creatures eyes they had made a special connection – if you want to call it special – in which Jack had shared the creatures feeling and notions of its thoughts before he passed out, and peed himself, apparently. And yet, the connection they had had apparently resulted in very little, as Jack had received no information as to why the Chilli was following him. Nothing. And now, staring into the Chilli’s eyes again, there was no more connection being made, no weird affect at all, just the standard dark, animalistic depth that could be expected of any animal’s gaze.

Eventually Jack had to ask, in quite the demanding tone, ‘What do you want from me?’

In response, the Chilli broke eye contact with Jack. It looked instead at the towel wrapped around Jacks waist, then looked at Amber working on Jack’s holster at the table, and then it moved. It stepped off the rim of the barrel, walked on its two legs to the center of the barrel top, then shrunk down as if it were collapsing in on itself like an accordion. It placed its penny-size clawed hands on its now popped belly. It was getting very comfortable. It nuzzled its face beneath one wing in preparation to sleep.

Jack grumbled, ‘Fine, just ignore me then.’

A Goat Named Jed

3

‘Secondly….’ Jack introduced his next question.

Amber nodded patiently.

He gave a furtive glance to the Chilly, and addressed the question to Amber. ‘Why are we in…’ he looked around at the room to try and better guess the situation, ‘A basement, with that… Chilli?’

‘You’re a fugitive.’ Amber was quick to respond.

Jack stared at her, as though expecting a much needed better explanation.

‘Well, technically we all are now.’ She said in a way that suggested it wasn’t such an uncommon thing to say, ‘It started with the Chilly, who killed the town guard.’

Jack nodded, listening.

She added, ‘But it was apparent that the Chilli’s behaviour has something to do with you, and that made it look like you were involved, and that means they will be after you as well.’

He continued staring expectantly at her, saying nothing.

‘And now I’m aiding and abetting a criminal,’ she concluded, ‘and that makes me a fugitive too.’

Jack considered all this. Somehow, it all seemed reasonable enough.

He asked, ‘Where are my clothes?’

‘In the next room,’ she told him, ‘drying by the fire.’

‘And where are we?’

‘Beneath my shop.’

‘And that’s safe from being found?’ Asked Jack.

She said, ‘I lived my entire childhood without ever knowing this place was here. It will do for now.’

He now looked directly at the Chilli, who seemed comfortable enough just listening in.

‘And how about… this?’ Asked Jack. ‘Are we, you know, safe from being frozen to death then shattered into pieces?’

The chilly let out a low whining noise, similar to that of a small whimpering dog.

Amber seemed vague about her reply, saying, ‘As far as I can tell, sure.’ She shrugged.

‘One more question,’ said Jack.

‘Of course.’

‘Are there any sheets, blankets maybe? Or any clothes at all I can wear till my own clothes are dry?’

A Goat Named Jed

2

Jack stared at the Chilli for a while. She stared back. He stared at Amber for a while. She stared back. He then looked around the space for a while more. The three of them were the only ones there.

‘I have a few question.’ He said.

‘Absolutely,’ replied Amber.

The Chilly cocked her head as if to pay closer attention to what Jack had to say.

‘Most important question first,’ said Jack.

‘Sure!’ Amber seemed eager.

He asked, ‘Are you giving me a sponge bath?’

‘Not exactly.’ She glanced at the sponge in her hand, then the bucket, then back at Jack.

‘Not exactly?’ He asked, giving her a pointed look.

‘I was sponging you down, but I finished a while ago. Now I’m just watching you.’ Her eyes darted to his penis, then back to his eyes. ‘You have a decent sized one.’

The Chilly cocked her head to the opposite side, maybe trying to figure out what Amber meant, or maybe she was aiming for a better angle by which to assess Jack's appendage.

‘Uhh… well, thanks. I Guess.’ Jack said.

Amber smiled pleasantly. ‘You are welcome.’ She dropped the sponge in the bucket.

A Goat Named Jed

1

Jack was waking up again, only this time there were no horse breathing over his face, no sounds of surrounding forest, no indication he was outside at all. What he did smell was the must of mould again, like that of the inside of Torn’s basement, which is where he thought he was before opening his eyes. But no, he was not back in Torn’s basement. As he lifted his head, blinking several times to clear his vision, he found himself in a different underground grotto. Maybe a cave. Smaller, less kept, damper, a little darker, as it was lit only by two candles at the foot of the extremely uncomfortable bed he was on. He was also very cold.

‘Where the hell are my clothes?’ Were the first words to pass his drowsy lips, as he caught sight of Amber standing nearby, a cloth in her hand. A bucket on the stone floor next to her.

‘I had to remove them,’ she replied, seeming quite wistful about it, ‘You peed your trousers when you fainted.’

Jack regarded his nakedness, regarded Amber with a flat expression. He was just about to ask why she hadn’t bothered to go the extra mile and change him into fresh clothing, or at least covered him with a blanket, but then found a more pressing topic of conversation when he spotted the Chilli perched on the edge of a barrel on the far side of the room.

A Goat Named Jed

Part 7

A Fugitive

A Goat Named Jed

4

Jack shuttered when his eyes connected with those of the Chilli. Their stares were locked. For reasons unknown Jack couldn’t look away. His body was still, his thoughts transfixed. His minds eyes seemed to be falling though a vortex into the darkness that lay beyond the Chilli’s cold gaze. Moments later Jack was sharing its emotions. Its feelings. The notion of its thoughts. He was one with the beast.

He felt anger, a primal rage. He felt alone, so alone and desperate. He felt things he couldn’t understand, unidentified, unorganized, so many sensations surging through his being - through both of them united as one - overwhelming Jack as his legs became weak and gave out beneath him and he crumbled to the floor. Everything went black.

A Goat Named Jed

3

The horse and carriage were nowhere in sight. The children and the two men from up the road could not be seen either.

A little ways up the road from the bridge, standing tall and sturdy next to his hearth, Torn was serving as a human shield; his wife had her hands gripping to his thick arm as she looked out from behind him.

Across the road at the Inn, one eye peeking out from behind the almost closed door, was Theolan.

Then there was the guard. He was dead. His sword was in many pieced, the steel of which had been shattered like glass, each shard steaming like chunks of dry ice and sprawled across the dirt and cobble road. The handle of the sword, however, was still held in both hands with a white-knuckle grip. But his hands were no longer attached to his arms, they were over near the bottom step of the Inn, while his arms were in two different locations, one down near the bridge, one on the landing of Amber's porch. The rest of his body; both legs, his torso and head, were still one piece, laid on its back several feet from Amber's porch. It, like the rest of its detached members, were pale and frozen like the shards of his sword, steaming like chunks dry ice. Not surprising, in a way, there was practically no blood, since the man had been frozen before being dismembered. Broken apart, not torn.

Far as Jack could see, the Chilli was unharmed. She was on Amber's front porch railing like she had never left her perch. She ruffled her feathers as if dispelling a cool breeze. The scales on her belly seemed to shimmer from shade to shade of fluorescent blues. She turned her face and heavy gaze to Jack.

A Goat Named Jed

2

On Amber’s short journey to the window, more sounds of commotion were heard outside: A man called out, maybe the same man as before, only this time in tremendous pain. A woman screamed again, maybe the Blacksmith's wife. There was a clutter of other voices heard, calling urgently for help, and their voices were moving away, fast, indicating that they were running for their lives as they yelled. But another sound was heard among the rest. It was a screech like that of an angry eagle, or hawk - or even a demon hungry and calling for blood - a sound that Jack was all too familiar with. Then, following all these sounds was a noise like that of a strong burst of wind howling, and then the man’s screams of pain were cut off as a dull, thunderous boom was heard, causing the floor and walls of amber’s shop to suddenly shutter, as if an angry giant had stomped its foot into the earth nearby.

It was then - as the sound of commotion ended with the thunderous thud and shaking of the house - that Amber arrived at the window and pulled the shutter open to look outside. Jack had also sought to witness what the hell was taking place outside. He had pulled his Glock from his bag, dropped the bag to the floor, and while Amber gaped with horror out the window, he swung open the door.

He stood in the threshold, gun raised to his shoulder in one hand, barrel pointed up. His lips parted, too stunned to breathe for the moment, eyes staring wide with curious wonder at what he saw.

A Goat Named Jed

1

Jack liked Amber, or at least what he knew of her so far. Plus she was a blonde, green eyes, fair skinned, all the physical attributes he normally admired in a woman. Naturally, all that superficial crap was a bonus. So of course he was glad she came to see him at the Inn to apologize for the way she had previously treated him, which also meant that he could now get the leather work done that he wanted to get done. Well, that is if a little dragon didn’t stop things from running smoothly.

When they entered in Amber’s shop and the door had closed behind them, Jack watched as Amber let out a massive sigh of relieve and turned to him with a wide smile, as if she were welcoming a family member home after not seeing them for a long time. He found the whole situation very strange.

‘Are they really that dangerous?’ He had to know. ‘I mean….’ He glanced back at the door as if to wonder if the small creature was about to break down the door at any moment. ‘…it isn’t any bigger than a small cat.’

Amber screwed up her face, wondering. ‘What’s a cat?’

‘Uh.. Never mind. Point is, the thing is small.’

Amber considered this, narrowing her eyes as she looked him up and down searchingly. ‘They think danger is relative to size where you come from?’

‘Well, no.’ Jack sighed, ‘But it makes a difference in many cases, sure. I mean look at the thing out there, how much damage could it possibly do?’

‘It attacked you,’ Amber pointed out as a matter of reference, ‘you should know.’

‘Yeah, that’s the point as well. It did attack me, and even though it was pretty damn savage, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that an entire town freezing in terror is justified.’

‘Hm…’ amber considered this too. ‘Interesting. Sounds like she went easy on you th– ‘

Amber was cut off by a short burst of commotion from outside. The sound of a woman screaming. A mans panicked cry. A horse riled up - the sound of its hooves stomping and the rumble of carriage wheels being dragged in its wake, passed Amber's house at a hasty pace.

Jack swivelled, turned back towards the entrance of the shop. Amber froze for a moment, then rushed to the window beside the door to take a look.

A Goat Named Jed

Part 6

A Death