The Ram Rebellion(109)

"Hell, who knows. But . . . yeah, it probably will." He glanced at the shuttered windows. "Felder's thugs aren't just rapists. They're also killers—and they've been the top dogs here, so far. I don't think they're just going to roll over and wave their paws in the air."





Noelle Murphy cleared her throat. "Still . . . Mr. Hatfield, you can't simply wait until there's an armed confrontation in the street. You have to send word to Captain Felder—to von Dantz and Horton, too—that you're now in charge."





Anse made a face. "Ms. Murphy, meaning no disrespect, but it's just a cold fact of life that if I march over to the garrison and start throwing orders around, I'll be lucky if I don't get shot. For sure, I'll get arrested. And then where are we?"





He took off his cap, laid it on a table, and scratched his head. "Look, face it. This so-called `posse' of ours is shaky enough as it is. Take me out of the picture . . ."





Noelle shook her head. "Yes, I understand. But I wasn't suggesting that you do it, personally. Simply that you needed to send word."





"And who . . . ?"





Her face was pale but composed. "I think it's quite obvious. Since I have the documents from President Stearns, I will do it. After I give copies to the city's authorities."





That odd, lightning-quick little smile came and went. "I'm really not what anyone in their right mind would call a `soldier,' Mr. Hatfield. The only reason I carry that little pistol is because my boss insisted. I'm not sure I could hit anything with it, beyond a few yards."





Abruptly, she rose to her feet. "I'm just a fig leaf here, really—and, once the job is done, a fig leaf is disposable."





Pat looked alarmed. "Hey, wait a minute! Didn't you hear what I said earlier? Felder's guys—probably Felder himself—are a bunch of rapists. You go over there . . . I mean, you're young, you're pretty . . ."





She issued that same insta-smile. "I thank you for the compliment, Mr. Johnson. But the same would be true for almost any woman you sent over there. And Mr. Hatfield is right. Any man would probably just get shot."





"But—"





"I am officially in charge, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Hatfield. So there won't be any further discussion of the matter."





And, with that, she marched to the door. At her imperious nod, one of Pat's apprentices opened it for her. A moment later, she was gone.





"Oh, hell's bells," said Pat.





* * *



Jochen Rau walked up to Anse. "Wili and Hennel are on their way to Grantville. We couldn't get a truck. Horton has one, but he's got it in the garrison compound. That's where the radio is, too."





"Damn." Anse shook his head.





"So Wili and Hennel they took the best horses we had." Rau grinned. "One of them was von Dantz's."





Anse chuckled. "So we're adding horse theft to the bargain, huh? Well, why not?"





He sent Jochen over to the tavern where he'd found Lieutenant Ivarsson. "See what he's up to—and, if you can, try to get him to come here."





Rau returned less than half an hour later. "Ivarsson's gone," he said. "Nobody seems to know where he went."





Anse muttered a curse under his breath. "What the hell is he playing at?"





Rau just shrugged.





An hour later, it started snowing. By nightfall, three inches of fresh snow had covered the town.





January 22, 1633




The business started not long after daybreak. The sky had cleared and the air was very crisp. The snow covering the streets muffled the sounds of moving men, but mercenary soldiers—this garrison, for sure—were usually not given to maintaining silence. So Anse could hear them coming a good two minutes before the first ranks came around the corner and started down the street.





By then, Anse had shifted his headquarters from Pat's factory to Blumroder's shop. He'd done that, partly, because Blumroder would be the immediate target; partly, because Blumroder's Jaeger were the men he relied on the most, outside of himself and Rau. But, mostly, simply to keep driving home the basic political point he was making.





Blumroder might be a conniving double-dealer—depending on how you looked at it—but he still had rights, until and unless they were removed from him legally. So, Anse would make his defense of those rights as visible and obvious as possible.





Von Dantz, surprisingly, was in the lead. Anse had expected to see Bruno Felder, since almost all of the soldiers following von Dantz were part of the Suhl garrison.





"You think von Dantz carried out a little mutiny of his own?" Anse wondered.