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Walking only a few yards behind Greathouse, Mattheice almost spoke out about Professor Fell&039;s money, but both times an inner voice interrupted to say You heard hireat one has spoken, and the great one will bash your head in if you tell hih money to buy Zed&039;s freedom So do yourself a favor, and keep yourdown They alking through tendrils of fog, which didn&039;t help Matthew&039;s state ofthem deeper, and Mattheas made to think of the red wax octopus on the paper seal, and its eight tentacles stretched out to seize the world

Through the fog at the bottoreen wall about fifteen feet in height, splotched here and there with colors of wine red and pale yellow at first Matthew thought it was just a particularly dense section of the forest, but a dozen yards closer and he could see individual black treetrunks, sharpened by axes at the top, and the spider&039;s web of vines and creepers that had reached out from the wilderness to lay claim to the remains of Fort Laurens It was a dead place, and utterly silent The road curved slightly to the left, and entered the fort through the jagged, black-burnt opening where the h the woods on their right, a heavy dark shape that caused even Slaughter to stop in hisor wild boar, perhaps-it kept going into the thick underbrush and disappeared

"Give un," Greathouse said, and Mattheas relieved to hand it over Just ahead of theain, but Greathouse called to him, "Wait!" and the barefoot beast of barbershop butchery obeyed as meekly as a lamb

It was apparent, as they neared the fort, that fire had done a nasty turn on the Dutche sections of the treetrunk wall had burned away, the ravages of flame still to be seen beneath the mesh of nature even after three decades What ht front corner, was a ether by black vines, its witch&039;s hat of a roof fallen down and overhanging the wall at an angle that defied gravity Matthew noted gunports here and there, wide enough for the snouts of blunderbuss shotguns to deliver loads of gravel, nails, or glass as well as lead balls It was clear, however, that the Indian hatchet and the bowstring had decided this particular battle, and he wondered how s Or, indeed, how ht lie beyond the broken walls

"Beautiful, isn&039;t iti" Slaughter had stopped before the hole where the gate had been He put his hands on his hips and admired the place as if he were already an earl, and this his madman&039;s castle "We found it froe where a couple of hardworking highway the safety of the forgotten dead" He grinned broadly at his new partners "Shall we enteri"

"after you" Greathousearoundi I thought ere past that" Slaughter suddenly frowned and clutched at his gut "Oh, dear," he said "I&039;ve been holding entleo now Pardon ulley full of brush and leaves

"Where do you think you&039;re goingi" Greathouse took a step toward hihter flashed a baleful look at theulley, un, and then he pulled his breeches down to expose a large white ruht of which instantly made Greathouse and Matthew avert their eyes

"Stay where we can see you!" Greathouse commanded, even as he walked away a few paces The sound of cursing, grunting and straining that issued up frohter&039;s place of excretion was truly horrific Matthew could see the very top of Slaughter&039;s head, but no further down did he wish to witness at last the hobble-gobble ceased, there caathered and, presuray breeches in place and the long tail of his gray shirt flagging

"Thank you," Slaughter said "I&039;m ready now"

"You first," Greathouse directed "and slowly"

Slaughter entered the dead fort, with Greathouse a few feet behind and Matthew following

Within the walls were the ruins of a ss eeded up and littered with debris like broken barrels and shards of pottery Fires had gnawed most of the interior structures down to the tindersticks an overturned wagon attested to the violence that had visited this place, as well as the shutters that had been hacked away fro cabins Doors had been torn froes and thrown aside Once inside the walls, the Indians had taken their task of destruction from house to house, and Matthew doubted that very many of the settlers had lived to see the next hour

Matthe no skeletons in the wreckage of Fort Laurens, for which he was grateful Either the Indians had carried off the corpses, or more Dutchmen had colooination could quickly stir up the ehosts froood eleht spit, though the sky remained low and leaden a whisper of chill wind blew from the west, with the promise that autumn&039;s days were nuhter deeper into the center of the ruins Matthew recoiled when he almost stepped on the head of a s up from the weeds and its body already crushed to powder In anothercabins and two other structures-a barn and sed in a circle around a common area that held a stone ith a peaked roof above it Both the barn and warehouse had suffered fire da, es of collapse Slaughter took course for the one cabin that at least had a whole roof, and Matthew realized they had reached the highwayhter could pass through the opening where a door used to stand Slaughter stopped on the threshold and waited for theht have been irritation "Your pleasure, sir Do you wish to go in first, toyou onto a floor that will collapse beneath youi" Greathouse peered in, as did Matthew The place was dark, even with the shutters ripped from the s Not much could be seen inside "Go ahead, then," Greathouse said, with a directional thrust of the pistol, and Slaughter&039;s bare feet left e roorim and austere, and certainly had been so even on the day of its construction But Slaughter and Rattison had evidently made it a home, of sorts On the floor were two piles of straw, sih for h stones held anext to the hearth were pots and pans, indicating that at least one of the ruffians could play at cooking There were two battered chairs, and a leather trunk between them that must have served as a table a pair of woolen blankets were folded and stacked in a corner on the floor, showing that someone had a penchant for neatness even in the midst of decay Both Greathouse and Matthew quickly noted that leaning over by the fireplace was a long wooden shovel with an edge of iron on its business point

It was toward this io, until Greathouse said sharply, "Wait!" When Slaughter paid no heed, Greathouse&039;s thuhter stopped, his hand outstretched to touch the shovel "I do presume you want the safebox Yesi If so, this will be needed"

Greathouse kept the pistol aiht, then Get to it"

Slaughter walked to one of the piles of bedding strahich he shoved aside with his foot Matthew surht not have trusted Rattison to the full extent of cohter thrust the shovel doard and used it to pry up a short board, which he then put to one side Three hter stepped back and said with an exaggerated bow, "Sirs, your fortune awaits"

Cautiously, watchful of the shovel in Slaughter&039;s grip, Greathouse and Matthew came forward to look down into the hole They saw, sihter explained "Do you wish to dig, or shall Ii"

"You," Greathouse answered "But if any of that goes in our faces "

"a hter san to dig into the straw and very carefully placed it on the floor next to the hole

"You surely went to great pains to keep this secured," Matthew said, as he watched Slaughter work His heart was beating harder When the safebox ca a very unwilling prisoner back up the hill to the wagon "I suspect you didn&039;t trust Rattison as ht have likedi"

"I don&039;t trust anyone Whether I like theloom "But I was most concerned about the Indians They&039;re still around; I&039;ve seen the about It wouldn&039;t do for the-" The shovel&039;s iron tip thunked into so solid "ah! Not buried too deeply, you see, but deeply enough Take this" He held the shovel out toward Mattheho paused long enough to glance quickly at Greathouse a nod of assent was given, and Matthew took charge of the shovel

Slaughter knelt down With two hands he cleared away the last layer of straw, and then he brought up an object wrapped in what appeared to be a dirty burlap bag Moving slowly, for it see and let it drop to the floor "Here," he said, with obvious pride "The result of our accord"

It was an ordinary box about six inches deep, fashioned of lustrous dark wood He turned it so that they ht see its two brass latches, one set vertically on either side of a keyhole "I&039;ll open it for you," Slaughter said quickly, and put a finger against one of the latches

"Not so fast" Greathouse&039;s voice was strained He still held the pistol, aihter&039;s body "It has a keyhole Where&039;s the keyi"

"Not necessary It&039;s unlocked, I assure you"

"See, to have locked it before you buried it I would have"

"Sir" Slaughter sain, as if at a poor fool "It&039;s a safebox, not a snake It&039;s not going to bite you"

"I&039;ve learned through experience, Mister Slaughter, that a box can bite Especially if concealed within it is a throwing knife, or a pistol and eather unpowder, but I&039;d say that box has stayed dry enough nested in the bag and all that straw Was that the intenti Is a gun in therei"

"No, and I never had the key Does that suit youi May I open it now, and let&039;s be about our businessi" again his finger went to the latch

"I said, no Just take it very easy" This tihter&039;s head "Let&039;s get out into the light Move"

Giving a sigh, Slaughter started out with the box in his arms and Greathouse went after him Matthew put aside the shovel and started to follohen the burlap bag on the floor caught his attention Rather, it as written on the bag, in bright red paint, that snagged his eye He picked the bag up, held it to the dih the nearest , and read upon it the words Mrs Sutch&039;s Sausages Below that was the legend "Sutch a Pleasure"

"Matthew!" Greathouse called "Co was very odd about this But he supposed highwayes, as much as did the patrons at Sally almond&039;s Or maybe they&039;d waylaid a ship fall back into the hole, and then he went out

Slaughter kept going, almost to the well, before he stopped and turned around He waited for the others to reach hiain "If you don&039;t trust me to open the box, you do it Oh, better yet! Let Matthew open it, as he seee"

"I&039;ll open it," Greathouse replied testily, but it was obvious he&039;d sensed so that he didn&039;t like "You just stand there and hold it, and keep your fingers away from those latches Matthewi" He offered Matthew the pistol "Steady this on him, and I want you to shoot if you have to Can you do thati"

Matthew nodded as he took the gun, but even so he wasn&039;t sure There was a tension in Greathouse&039;s voice that said it really hter, that soain feeling the loss of control Matthew had done fine shooting targets in his pistol lessons, and threatening Slaughter by brandishing the gun around; now, though, the gaed lightly "You wouldn&039;t wish to waste your only shot, and heaven forbid if you were to hit Mr Greathouse by un&039;s aim a few inches to one side

"Keep yourabout ten feet fro the box out for him to open Yet Greathouse still declined to approach Matthew thought Greathouse&039;s ani the wind for treachery

"Come on, then! It&039;s heavier than it looks, I assure you all that hter When Greathouse still didn&039;t round and step away You can lean down and-" He round next to the well

"Stay where you are!" caht there Where I can see your hands That wouldn&039;t be the first box I&039;ve seen with a hidden lever that shoots out a blade"

Slaughter laughed, but after the first few notes of it a rasp of anger crept in "It&039;s a fucking box! Do you seei" He turned it to show various angles "and heavy! Dear Christ, arow rootsi"