Soon after the paper was distributed, a report came in from a small town that had been attacked by Daniel shortly after they had agreed to join the Allied States. That group of people had been kept separated from the others at the work camp they had been taken to because Daniel had wanted to make a final example of them. The towns people had been loaded back up into truck to be taken elsewhere.
But somewhere along the way, something had happened to the drivers and several someone's had driven the trucks back to the small town they had come from and stopped them there. Whoever had driven them back to their home had turned off the engines and then disappeared. The guards had all mysteriously disappeared and the only thing people could recall was everyone being extremely sleepy and falling asleep during the trip. When they came to, they were home and unguarded.
This left many of the council members and people in neighboring communities completely baffled. After sending Kurdy and Mister Smith to verify that people had indeed been returned home, they volunteered to help those that wanted to leave the town to move to a different community. Millhaven still had many empty houses and they already had protections and watches set up to guard the town. Some were willing and were quick to gather their belongings to leave. The few elders left of the city all agreed that the trucks they were carried in should disappear and that those that decided to stay would begin preparations to watch, guard and protect those left behind in case Daniels goons were to return.
Two days later, Kurdy returned to the small town with a large load of supplies from food to building materials, tools and other items they might need to help get things accomplished faster. He brought several of the people from Thunder Mountain that had been working to come up with better ideas and plans for hit and run tactics that would delay any oncoming attackers, giving people in towns more time to get scattered into the countryside. They knew they could help these people clear away the few buildings that had been burned and help put lives back together.
Kurdy made sure that the elders understood that this was not a way to get them to rejoin the Allied States, but those at Thunder Mountain found it their duty to make right the wrongs that had befallen them by the hands of Daniels minions because of what they had agreed to do. Nothing more was discussed but Kurdy could tell that within a few weeks time, the people were beginning to realize that their freedom and their way of living was worth the fight and it seemed to slowly change the way they felt about the Allied States and their roll in protecting their right to live free.
Marcus could only marvel at the slow change that they were beginning to encounter. Envoys from other towns began to slowly make their way to Millhaven to meet up with Jeremiah or to be put in contact with Thunder Mountain so that negotiations could be made to allow them to join. Jeremiah was kept busy with the influx of people coming from other communities and trying to keep the peace while making sure supplies were getting to where they needed to go. His anger continued a slow burn as no word of Libby's killer could be found.
*****
As summer progressed on, towns were reporting in that they had managed to escape from Daniel's people by using the tactics they had worked out to give early warning and escape routes. Daniel's people were leaving empty handed again and again. Marcus knew though that it wouldn't be too long before the cases of coming back empty handed would cause Daniels goons to do something drastic.
Frank found another issue of the 'Free Spirited Press' done up one morning after he had been out on watch. It was another simple four pages front and back, filled with news from the small towns that had survived Daniels' attacks, news on the group of towns people that had found themselves mysteriously returned to their town and the stories they told of what life was like in the work camps.
There were new articles on the history of the War of Independence against the British and how small groups of Minute Men and local mallitia fighters were able to drive the British back or keep them at bay by using gorilla warfare tactics of hit and runs, disabling and then hiding before injury could be done. The story sighted several books that the research had been found in and reminded people that one must simply look to the past for answers to the future.
Marcus had been in town the morning Frank came running up to Jeremiah with the new issue, waving it around until Marcus took the paper and began to read it for himself. When he finished, he handed it to Jeremiah and looked at Frank. "We still don't know who has done this?" he asked.
Frank simply shook his head as Jeremiah read the paper himself. It was again, another masterpiece. Someone was a very good wordsmith, very informed and well educated. The paper was again free of any tell tale signs of where it originated from. Even the name of the towns were somewhat obscured in the articles to protect them from dire retribution at the hands of Daniel.
Frank was given the all go to print up as many copies of it as he could an Marcus would make sure they were delivered like the first set, fanning them out across trade routes, amongst travelers and beyond. Word would spread faster than ever with this edition of the 'Free Spirited Press'.
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As summer progressed into fall, new stories were coming out of the east from the plains. Daniels troops were beginning to fall back away from certain areas. From the sounds of things, any troops found west of the Mississippi river were systematically killed or sent packing. Work camps were abandoned by those that were left to run them and people by the hundreds were set free, allowed to scavenge the remains of the camp for food, weapons, clothes, tools and whatever else they could find. Many of these people fled west, back across the plains, taking their stories to the towns that would take them in.
The only thing that disturbed those in Thunder Mountain is that no matter how many times people were questioned on how they were freed, who freed them and who was driving Daniel's people back across the river, the only answers they would get were either 'I don't know. It just happened.' or 'Ghosts of the dead come back to get revenge'. There were some that liked to make up wild stories but anyone that talked with multiple of these people from the work camps knew that no one had any idea of how they were freed and to whom they owed their thanks.
Marcus finally had to make a decision he wasn't sure if he would like or not but it had to be done. He called together Kurdy, Jeremiah and Mister Smith to Thunder Mountain. He explained that he needed intelligence on what was happening out there. What was causing Daniel to retreat back across to the East side of the Mississippi and stay there. There was obviously another party involved but who or how, no one had anything on. It was to be their job to find out who or what was behind this shift.
After planning out their route and getting supplied, they set out at dawn on a cool early fall morning. Their route would take them from town to town along the major routes to the Mississippi River in hopes of finding evidence as to who was able to send Daniel's people packing. The prairie states of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri were almost like ghost towns. Large herds of cows, buffalo and horses were seen roaming from one area to the other. Fences had been cut long ago or fence posts had rotted and fallen over to allow the animals free range wherever they went.
They encountered very few people and when they did, the people were usually very weary of anyone and often refused to come close enough to hold a decent discussion. The guys usually left a few issues of the 'Free Spirited Press' and moved on to the next town on the map. Nights were spent plotting out the next route and dawn brought another long day of driving. By the time they hit Kansas, they found the remains of one of the work camps. There was nothing left but a charred skeleton of structures and even that was beginning to collapse. No bodies were found, no supplies and no vehicles were located either.
They moved on until they finally came to the Mississippi mid-day. The bridge they had come upon was completely blocked solid by multiple burned hulks of vehicles, one on top of another from army carriers to pick up trucks. It was impossible for anyone to get across the bridge either east or west without having to move hundreds of cars. The thing that got Kurdy laughing about it was that the cars all looked like they belonged to one of Daniel's groups at some time or another due to the roll cages and modifications made to them. But they were nothing but burned out hulks now. As they continued up the river, they realized that all the bridges were blocked as the first one was.
As their supply of gas was beginning to run low, they had reached as far as Minnesota. They had set up camp for the night in an old campground that had seen use from time to time. Nights were much colder now that they were farther north and fall was in full force. The fire was fueled by cow chips long since dried but it freaked Kurdy out a little when Smith threw a few on the fire. Expecting some horrible smell, he had to admit that the fire didn't stink like he thought it would once it got going. Jeremiah kept to himself as he did most of the time, listening to the other two banter back and forth while they waited for supper to finish cooking.
When supper was but a memory and the fire was beginning to burn down a little, Jeremiah had been watching a small flame flickering on the edge of a log when he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Smith was telling Kurdy about something he'd heard on the road when Jeremiah made a shushing noise. Both looked up at him and grew silent. As Jeremiah's hand slid towards the riffle next to him, he saw something that could have made even the most cynical believe in ghosts.
On the very edge of the shadows that were chased away by the firelight stood six Indians in shades of gray, dressed as if they had stepped out of photos from the old west. Each carried a riffle, cradled in their arms with visible quivers of arrows over their backs with bows strung and hooked to them. They looked stoic, severe and yet calm. Their eyes didn't seem to focus on those around the campfire. The one dressed a bit differently than the others, sporting head covering of a coyote's full pelt, head included, stepped forward.
The muzzle of the Coyote overshadowed the face of the wearer. The eyes of the coyote flashed in the firelight, reflecting back at those around the fire as if the animal were alive. Kurdy and Smith sat absolutely still but Jeremiah stood slowly, leaving his riffle where it sat. "Who are you?" he asked more out of curiosity than of a demand.
The voice spoke, sounding as though it was coming from far away even if they stood only a few feet in front of him. "You have come to seek answers." Came the distant voice. "The Great Spirit has sent us to give you warning of a great battle that will come soon upon the plains." The Coyote man moved his head slightly as if listening, causing the eyes of the animal to flash again. "You must be prepared or all will be lost. You will have some time to prepare but use it wisely. You will find one that knows of the old ways but lives in the now. This one will help you to defeat the demon from the east."
Coyote man was silent now. Jeremiah looked slowly around at the others who seemed utterly still even though the wind had picked up some. He finally looked back to the being in front of him. "Who are you? How have you done all of this?" he asked, motioning towards the direction of the Mississippi River.
The 'ghost' looked at him again, his features sharper and more defined than it seemed a moment ago. "Even now, the 'Free Spirit' has spread east with words of wisdom and tales of freedom that have begun to sow decent among those that are slaves of this demon. Soon they will realize that they outnumber those that hold their leashes. Many lives will be lost in the conflict when that day comes but a great leader will rise from the destruction that will begin to heal the wounds of old."
Jeremiah looked at him, trying to figure out if he was real or not. He took a step back to begin leaving the ring of light cast by the fire. As he took another step back, he slowly began to fade into the shadows as the others moved silently away as well. "The battle will come morning after the moon bleeds upon the earth." Jeremiah blinked at this and looked at the others before looking back to realize that no one was there.
Kurdy jumped up and began to walk out in a circle, looking for evidence that someone was really out there but there was little to be found and no sound was made in the deep quiet of the fall night. When they reconvened at the fire, Smith had been staring at the fire for some time. Kurdy had to call his name out several times before he responded. Finally Smith blinked and looked at the other two. He shivered visibly and looked away. "God said to tell you that the words spoken were true. He said nothing else as to if those were ghosts or ….whatever."
Smith seemed visibly shaken and Jeremiah suggested he sleep in the back of the truck that night that he and Kurdy would take the watch shifts. Smith didn't argue and went to crawl into the back of the truck. Kurdy couldn't find words to express himself so he remained silent until it was time for him to sleep while Jeremiah took first watch.