Kingdom of Heaven: A Post Apocalyptic Post Pandemic Black Plague Action Adventure by Theo Mann

Author:Theo Mann [Mann, Theo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Invisible Publishing Company
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Mathieu scanned the fence line before he went back to whittling the arrow shaft on his lap. Every time he looked up, the fence blocked his view of the forest. He was really beginning to loathe that fence. It stopped him from seeing his enemies approaching—not that the brigands would show themselves before they attacked.

Renee didn’t look up from the dead hog he was scraping with his knife. “Concentrate on your work and you won’t worry so much.”

Mathieu cast another despairing look around the village. It told him nothing about the approaching danger. “Aren’t you the least bit concerned about this attack? How can you be so relaxed about it all?”

“What attack? There is no attack because it hasn’t happened yet. You’re fretting about something that may never happen.”

“That’s nonsense and we both know it. You know the brigands are out there. How can you be so devoted to that hog instead of helping prepare?”

Renee laughed at him. He stood up, gripped the hog by one foot, and flipped the carcass over to expose the other side. He repositioned it and sat down next to Mathieu to resume his task. “People still have to eat. In fact, people having something to eat tonight is more important than the attack or when it will happen or if it will happen. Besides, you’re making enough arrows for us both.”

Mathieu bowed over his arrow, but in a minute, his attention started to wander again. He had attached himself to this village and now he couldn’t stop obsessing about the next attack. The attack would come against him—him personally. He couldn’t claim to be on the other side anymore.

He compulsively considered every possible angle of assault and how to counter each one. When he did, he found the village woefully unprepared and underdefended.

Renee flicked his blade across the hog’s skin, picked up a wad of bristles, and dropped them on the ground. The soft slap of moist hair on the bare dirt made Mathieu look up. “That’s a fine knife you have there. Where did you get it?”

“I found it in the henhouse. I found it buried under a pile of manure.”

Mathieu narrowed his eyes at Renee. “You’re fooling with me.”

Renee rotated the dagger in his hand and scanned the blade. “I’m not. I really did find it there. It’s a good little knife and very well sharpened.”

He inspected the short, drop-point blade for a moment, rubbed his thumb over the wooden handle that had been polished by the sweat of hands, and then he went back to work. He put the whole matter of the knife out of his head. Renee never dwelled on anything, no matter how pressing. Mathieu envied him for that.

He laid his arrow aside and picked up another split. He propped it against his thigh and passed his own knife along the corner to round the shaft. A moment later, he caught himself searching the area again and Collette crossed his path.

She glanced toward the forge at the same moment, but he couldn’t be sure if she was looking at him or at Renee.

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