Mars Michaels... Steam Pirates of The Wongenema. (Part two.)

 

They kept themselves at a safe distance, up along the northern slope of the mountainside that overlooked Saddlerville because Ari knew that there wouldn’t be any guards posted there. Mars always had a small pair of field glasses that he carried in his coat, and he spent several minutes scanning every part of the small township that he could lay his eyes on.

“They usually plant crops by mid to late July so they’ll be ready for harvest by fall,” she told him.

The buildings were small and old and had fallen into quite the state of disrepair, and it appeared that very little was being done to them in the way of maintenance to keep them upright and fully functional. There were probably twenty or so out buildings nearest the edge of town that were overlooking large fields of unharvested vegetables, while some others nearer the center of the township seemed better kept up. All the buildings were of the same color, a dreary looking battleship gray. None of which held any particularly distinguishing markings. And finally, all roads in and out of Saddlerville were completely fenced off, as was the entire township. From what he concluded, it, for all intents and purposes, looked like and indeed was- a fully functioning concentration camp. Ari gently nudged him in the ribs and gestured towards the road leading up to the main gate of the complex. 

Four armed guards were walking towards an approaching horse-drawn wagon that carried eight large metal drums in the back of it. Two walked around the sides, inspected the contents, and motioned for them to open the gate. Mars looked sideways at Ari.

“What’s all of this, then?” He asked.

“Heating oil vendors… They bring it in from a processing plant that is still in operation somewhere up along the coast. They make the 10-day trip up twice a month to trade for livestock and fresh vegetables and whatever else they find useful. They unload it at a docking station at one of the out buildings at the other end of town. It’s right next to the depot where they store ammunition for their guns.”

“So they rely mostly on heating oils in the winter?” He asked.

She nodded. 

They watched the comings and going of the guards for several hours, with Mars tracking and taking notes of their every movement meticulously. From what he could see, the largest part of the force was at the center of town and consisted of between thirty and forty men. Again, Ari nudged him.

“Lately, though, I heard some of the guards saying that there was a problem with the heating oil.” she whispered to him. He gave her a curious look.

“Like what problems?”

“The stuff they’ve been getting lately isn’t of the best quality. It doesn’t burn clean, it can make you sick if you breathe in the smoke directly. Conway-the head guard, seems to think that they are diluting it with something at the processing plant, because the supplies might be running out soon. And I also hear that they are doubling up on their patrols higher up into the mountains along the river.”

Again, he gave her a curious look before returning his attention to the scene below.

“Why? What are they looking for?”

She shrugged.

“I don’t know. It must be important though, I mean for Klecko to send half of his forces up river on patrol.” 

“Klecko, Is that the person in charge?” He asked.

She stared down at the fences of Saddlerville, her face contorted into a frown, as if recalling some bad memory.

“Yeah, He runs this place from the ranch. That’s where he lives I think, I can take you there if you like, we’ll have to go deeper in the woods though. There’s supposed to be a path farther up so you can see anything coming up from below. It’s the highland trail. It connects directly with the trail that takes you to the ranch,” she said.

She led him higher up through the trees to where the highland trail was, and then they hiked undetected for almost two miles until they came to a second trail that sloped down along the mountain side. She motioned towards the downward slope and began the walk down, followed cautiously by Mars.

“For someone who was new to the area, you certainly know your way around.” He told her.

“Yeah, well this wasn’t the first time that I escaped. They caught me the first time, though.”

She slid down into a ravine and held her forefinger up to her lips.

“This place they do watch rather closely. If we get caught, they will kill both of us.”

They moved slowly up in between two pine trees careful to stay low and in the underbrush, it was in a small valley still laden with fog and mist. A long elbow shaped building again with a fence encompassing the entire compound surrounded by open fields on all sides but two, which had been cultivated for more vegetables. The one in front and the one on the west side nearest the main road in were open. More armed guards roamed the outside of the building, he slipped back down behind the cover of the trees and underbrush and looked at Ari.

“Well Ari.” He said. “Whoever he is, both places are fairly well organized as far as their defenses go, it’s going to take more than two of us to free the people in both camps. We’re probably going to need to find out what they are looking for up river, maybe we can use whatever it is against them. Come on. Let’s get to the river I need to think about this.” He told her. 

They made their way back up the trail and followed it three hundred more yards west until it began to wind downward in the direction of The Wongenema River. Once alongside of the water, they found the hoof prints of the search party along the grass and mud riverbank. Mars knelt down to inspect them.

“Not more than a couple of hour’s old if I were to venture a guess. They’re heading west from the looks of things. They could be ten miles or ten yards from here by now. If we move, we’d best do it carefully.”

They followed along the riverbank for almost another mile before they stopped to rest, Ari could feel the familiar rumble of hunger in her belly, and soon she would be hungry enough to eat a raw fish. Mars went back into his pack while she investigated along the banks of the river. When he caught up with her, she was staring down at a rocky cove covered by heavy foliage. As he handed her a piece of dehydrated beef, she gave him a quizzical look.

 “Hey Mars? What do you suppose that is?” she asked, pointing at the cove.

He walked up beside her, took the field glasses from his inside pocket. He trained them on the small cove of water where her finger was pointing. A smile slowly spread across his lips. He patted Ari on the head. 

“That, my dear, is a canoe. You have great eyes, Ari.” He said.

They had to climb down to get to the cove, she almost lost her footing in the rocks more than once. He removed the pack from his back and began to inspect the canoe for possible leaks, when satisfied, he instructed her to get in while he steadied it.

“Ummm, Mars? What do we need this doohickey for again?” She asked

“It’s a canoe Ari, and we can move a lot faster down river in this than we can by going on foot. Just sit still once we get in and do exactly what I say. You just keep your eyes open for that patrol along the banks.”

~Scratch. A.B.T. Copyright © 2010