Tarnished Chapter 22 (Patreon)

John walked back into town with the deer slung over his shoulder. He had made sure to dress it before taking it back, but some blood had still stained his jacket.

That was a bit annoying, but more so was what stood waiting for him at the edge of town.

A group of men appeared from an alley between one of the houses, blocking the street. The last to take his place did so with a hobbling gait and John could see a metal brace over the man’s leg. John glanced around to see everyone else hurrying for cover. So it was gonna be one of those days, eh?

“You fucker,” Derek Klein spat. “You go around strutting like you’re some big shot, all because you shot a man while he’s drunk. Well, I’m not drunk now you coward. We’re gonna settle this today, you and me.”

John let the carcass of the deer slide from his shoulder without taking his eyes off the Klein boy. “Go back to your Pappy, Derek, I’m not going to duel you.”

“You yellow-bellied chicken!” The man yelled, his hand flexing near his holster.

His little posse of brothers laughed at this. Seems someone had egged him on. John did recognize most of the faces from the saloon, so it wasn’t a surprise.

“No. But I have no beef with Pappy and don’t intend to start one by killing his kid. No matter how stupid he is.”

“Fuck Pappy!” The large man roared. “The old man has grown soft. And if you don’t fucking draw, well, I guess you’re a dead man.” As soon as those words left his mouth, Derek drew his weapon.

John sighed. The bigger man was faster than he had a right to be, but he was still painfully slow in John’s eyes. Before Derek even managed to get his gun pointed his way, John had pulled his revolver and fired three shots. One to the head and two to the heart. The large Klein collapsed to the ground and stunned silence followed.

“Well, can’t say I didn’t try. I warned your Pappy what would happen if his boys caused trouble around here.”

“You… you killed him,” One of the other men stated before reaching for his piece.

John shot him as well, but only once in the heart. “Any more want to die today?”

A few of the men still looked like they wanted to draw on him. He even heard one say quietly, “He can’t kill us all.”

“You wanna bet on that?” John asked, making the man stiffen.

He didn’t know if it was anger or embarrassment that drove their next action, but the remaining five men all drew their weapons. John emptied his revolver, before smoothly switching to his second to finish off the last three.

Only one had even come close to hitting him, and the bullet skipped off the ground between his feet.

John quickly reloaded his guns before walking over to the seven dead men. People were already starting to filter back to gape at the scene while John collected the weapons. Sheriff Blackwood and Deputy Seline came running a few minutes later.

“What happened?” The man asked, looking at the carnage.

“Derek wanted revenge for his knee and challenged me to a duel. When I killed him, his brothers didn’t feel it was fair, so I was forced to kill them as well.”

“Hells! As if we didn’t have enough trouble as it was.”

“Pappy isn’t going to take this lying down,” Seline stated in shock.

“I warned him,” John said as he went to retrieve his deer.

“You spoke with Pappy? When?” Wyatt asked.

“He and his boys were waiting for me when I went to investigate the mine.”

“And he didn’t kill you?” Blackwood sounded genuinely surprised.

“Let's just say we came to an understanding.”

“And that was?” The Sheriff asked.

John smiled. “Can I leave this mess to you? I need to take this deer to the general store.”

The man grumbled but nodded.

John tipped his hat at him but before walking away, he turned to Seline. “The rifle works wonders.”

Despite the scene, she blushed slightly and smiled.

“If Pappy comes by, I’ll have a chat with him.” With that, John left.

***

It was a few hours later when someone started pounding on his door. He opened it up to find Pappy standing a few feet back and all alone. John made sure to check.

The man chuckled at that. “Only me.”

John stepped onto the porch. “What can I do for you, Mr. Klein?”

“Oh, I think you’ve done enough already,” The man spoke tiredly. “Although since you put them in the ground, the least you can do is go to their burial service.”

“So I can be jumped by the rest of your family?”

The Klein patriarch nodded like it was the most obvious thing ever. “I can see why you would think that. Have you ever had a family, Mr. Smith, or are your kind not allowed families?”

John narrowed his eyes. “What are you getting at?”

“Nothing. Just wondering. It’s hard for those without kids to understand. Did you know I’m a great-grandfather? Four generations of Kleins, all from these loins.”

“Congratulations?”

The man chuckled. “Oh, it isn’t all fun and games, at least not after the making part of having kids. It takes hard work and dedication. Something I was never very good at.”

“I assume there is a point to this story.”

The man didn’t seem phased by John’s interruption. “No matter how well you try, there are always going to be favorites when you have kids. Some you just like more than others. Maybe you have some who are more talented than others, smarter than others… hotheaded than others. And the kids, they can sense this. What I’m getting at, John, is that while you see my family as one large loving group, that is hardly the case. They are fractured, and the only reason they don’t fight amongst themselves is because I’m here to keep the peace.”

“Is that a threat, Pappy?”

The man smiled. “I wouldn’t waste my breath threatening you. I would simply show up and slit your throat while you slept. No, I’m warning you that you upset the balance of my house. I have seven families demanding I cut you down for what you did. A bunch of nattering idiots that can’t see anything except what is right in front of them. But they are family, and family is important.

That being said, I haven’t lived this long by being foolish, John. I’m aware of what you ran into in that valley. And the Harc’otti are more active than ever. War is coming to our little slice of dirt and I can’t afford to lose more of my kin. If you show the families respect by showing up to their burial, it may go a small way toward easing their anger. Or one may try to stab you in the back.” He shrugged. “All I know is, I plan on uniting the Klein’s before this war breaks out.”

With that, the man turned and walked away.

John debated simply putting the old bastard down then and there. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he had shot a man in the back that he knew was a threat. But he stopped himself from reaching for his gun.

Killing Pappy would certainly get the Kleins to unite, but it would be against John and Ember Creek. And not going to the burial would likely see the old man paying him a late-night visit. So either he would die or Pappy would, leading to the same outcome.

The cagey old bastard had locked him into only one approach that didn’t end up in bloodshed. John smiled. Not because he was happy with the situation though. Pappy reminded him a lot of Jeziah Novarez, Daniel’s grandfather and the man who had rescued him from the Irtishian Empire.

Much like Pappy, General Novarez was a hard man who made difficult choices. He was also cunning enough to get John to form a life debt with his family.

Nobody formed life debts anymore, not in this new era. It wasn’t like a life debt was a binding agreement anyway. It relied on the person's integrity to maintain it, and if that person had none, it was meaningless. The only thing that kept that debt going for John was his steadfast refusal to fail the man who had saved him. Even if it meant working for his shitty grandson.

John turned around and went back into the house. He had a burial to attend.

***

John tied his horse up to a rail near the cemetery. It was a very nice meadow on the north end of Ember Creek.

There were dozens of people present, more than he had thought possible, but all were wearing some form of black with most of the women having black veils.

Heads turned toward him as he passed through the crowd, but nobody spoke. Once he reached the far side, he found Pappy standing there, with six widows and a slightly older woman who stood a head taller than most men and was quite broad. She was giving John a death glare.

That had to be Derek’s mother.

“Is everyone present?” The Preacher asked.

“Aye, get on with it,” Pappy grumbled.

John removed his hat and tuned out the preacher’s words. Soon the bodies were lowered into the freshly dug graves, and each member of the family tossed a handful of dirt on top of the pine wood caskets.

He waited until it was just him and the widows before he followed suit, grabbing a handful of dirt. The larger woman spat at him, the ball of phlegm landing on his arm. He looked up at her.

“You should be in that hole, not my son!”

Instead of answering her, he dropped the dirt. The process repeated, and each woman wished that he was in the hole instead of their husbands. Instead of rising to their bait, he finished the ritual and donned his hat once more.

“Lonny! No!” One of the women yelled, her eyes going wide.

John spun, finding a young teen rushing at him, knife leading the way and a mask of rage on his face. He sidestepped the awkward thrust of the blade before snapping his elbow down on the young man’s arm.

The knife flew from the kid's numbed hand as he dropped to the ground in pain. John stepped away as the screaming mother ran over to cradle her child.

Pappy stepped up beside John, somehow getting around behind him without him noticing. But the man just stood there, shaking his head. “Stupid boy. I told you this would happen.”

“Someone had to avenge Pa!” The kid screeched.

“Your Pa was a fool that got himself killed. You’re lucky Mr. Smith here is smarter than your old man. Now come along, you’re knife skills are an embarrassment to the family, I mean to correct that.” John could only watch as the old man picked the boy up by his ear and dragged him away despite the protests of his mother.

The rest of the women followed soon after.