Joshua Simon - Forgotten Soldiers

Hamath stepped down. He reached under his seat and pulled at his pack. He got it free and slung it over his shoulder.

“What’s going on, Ty? We got trouble?” Ira called out as he and Dekar walked up.

“No. We’ve come upon Hamath’s town.”

“Then why are we stopping?”

I nodded to Hamath. “Ask him.”

Hamath fiddled with the sword at his waist. “I thought it was obvious. I’m heading off.”

“Why get off here when we still got another couple miles before we reach town?” asked Ira.

“Because you don’t need to follow me. Supplies are fine. Plus, it’s still early in the day. Stopping is only going to set everyone back. I can walk the rest of the way.”

“How kind of you to consider our well-being.” Ira’s voice was lined with sarcasm.

I got down from the wagon. “If you don’t want us to come along, Hamath, just say it.”

He looked up, speaking in a deadpan voice. “I don’t want you to come along.”

“Why not?” asked Dekar.

“It’s nothing personal,” said Hamath, meeting each of our eyes. “I promise. I just-”

“All right,” I said, cutting him off. “You have your reasons. I don’t know how I’ll feel when I get home so who am I to judge what’s going on inside your head.”

His lips pressed together, and he gave me a nod. I returned it. We stared at each other for a few moments, wondering how to say goodbye.

Gods, it was more awkward than I thought possible. How could I tell my best friend, a man I had fought beside and killed with for years, “see you later?” He had saved my life and in turn I had saved his more times than I could count. Didn’t seem like there was a right way to do it.

“When you feel like you’ve had enough here and need a break, why don’t you come my way?” I finally mustered up. “Lasha can cook you up a mean steak.”

He forced a smile. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be there the first chance I get.”

I don’t think either of us believed that would happen. Despite how close we had always been, weeks of travel separated his town and mine, which for someone of our class, might as well have been months.

We embraced like brothers and parted. He waved over his shoulder and cut away from the road. He jumped the old wooden fence and disappeared into the grove of pecan trees, heading toward town.

Over the next couple weeks our numbers rapidly dwindled. I watched a lot of awkward good-byes, some even worse than mine. Each parting made me think of Hamath and Ava. I started feeling down about all the relationships I was losing.

But then thoughts of Lasha and the kids would drive those feelings away. At our current pace, I’d be home by the end of the month.

I decided that wasn’t soon enough and began pushing harder. Most of our injuries had healed and those that hadn’t probably wouldn’t for some time. They’d suffer no matter what pace we kept so I saw no reason to delay things further.

A decent-sized town announced itself with an actual sign displaying its name.

Kafr stood on flat land between miles of pasture. Both cattle and sheep with heads down, munched away on bright-green grass. Considering we were down to seventeen men, none of us walking, I thought it time to sell off our remaining wagons with the exception of the one we’d take to the end. Knowing the type of towns we’d come to after Kafr, I didn’t think we’d find a better place to do so.

We rolled into Kafr shortly after midday with the sun at its highest. The town seemed deserted, which didn’t surprise me. Most anyone who lived in the area was likely working the fields. At night, I imagined things would be different.

Dekar tapped my arm and pointed. “Feed store is over there.”

I followed his gesture. “I should probably get the supplies. Anyone else is likely to waste the money. I want either you or Ira to come with me. The other can handle selling the wagons we no longer need.”

“I’ll come,” he said. “You know how Ira likes to negotiate. The man has tried so many scams of his own, he can always sniff one out.”

“All right. Hop off here and pass the word.”

Dekar jumped down as I guided the lead wagon aside, tying the horses to a nearby post.

I took a moment to shake the stiffness from my limbs while I watched the others ride by. Ira made an obscene gesture at me in jest. I shook my head, climbed up the steps to the feed store, and pulled on the door. A bell jingled on the handle as I went inside.

My eyes took a minute to adjust to the dim light. When they did, I saw a middle-aged man standing behind a counter, bald on top, bushy hair on the sides. He scowled while looking me over. The disgust he wore took me off guard. He pulled out a rag and began polishing the counter.

“Good day,” I said while walking over.

He didn’t respond.

I stayed calm. Maybe he was hard of hearing. Granted, that didn’t explain his scowl. I decided on a different approach, cutting through the small talk and getting right down to business. “I’m looking to make a purchase.”

“Inventory is running low,” he muttered without looking up. “Probably out of what you’re looking for.”

I stepped away from the counter and looked around the store. Sacks of flour rested next to piles of potatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables. A barrel of apples stood beside another of limes. Strips of dried beef and lamb hung on hooks. And those were the items fit for human consumption. Grain for the horses was in a different part of the store with various tools a farmer, butcher, rancher, tanner, or so on might need. Should I be so inclined to take up knitting, I could even buy a pile of yarn.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve got what we’re looking for.”

The man looked up. “None of this is for sale.”

“Huh?”

“It’s all been paid for in advance. Most of it just came in actually. No one’s going to come by to pick it up until this evening though.”

A small bell chimed, and Dekar entered, rubbing his eyes just like I had. The old man’s scowl somehow deepened. He backed away a step.

Blinking, Dekar walked over.

“All right,” I said, facing the man once more. “What is for sale in the way of food and grain? Even if it’s not all we need, it will help us along until we get to the next town.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Come to think about it, I don’t think we have anything for sale. You and your friend might do best just heading out to that next town. I’m sure you’ll have more luck there.”

Having quickly figured out the situation, Dekar said “Just say it like it is. Plenty’s for sale, just not to us. Am I right?”

The owner nodded.

“Why in the name of Molak not?” I said. “Our coin is just as good as anyone else’s. I never heard of any business man prejudiced about how he makes his money.”

The owner puffed himself up. “I can run my store anyway I want. Now that you know the way it is, I suggest you get on out of here.”

“Tyrus?” asked Dekar.

I stared at the man and he stared right back. Despite not carrying any noticeable weapons, his gaze didn’t falter.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said.

“You sure?” asked Dekar.

“Yeah. We got enough food to last us until the next town. We can try our luck there. I don’t want another Damanhur.”

The man flinched at the name like he had heard of what had happened. I guess it was possible. Bad news travels fast and we had chosen to travel the safest path, not the fastest.

I cursed to myself. If they had heard about Damanhur from someone besides us, he might be thinking we started the whole thing. I opened my mouth in an effort to make our case one last time, when the store’s door flew open, slamming against the wall.