Uprising Ch 7
So it IS him! Zero smiled. Things may have just gotten very interesting. And profitable, Glitch was known to be close to the queen and privy to many of the goings on in the government. He motioned the guards to leave. "Well, we meet again Ambrose. Or is it Glitch?" His smile broadened as he watched the zipperhead's expression go from shock to pure terror. "The last time we met I was at a certain disadvantage. Things have turned around since then and now I have the advantage. As I recall, I gave you some information at that meeting. So now it is time for you to return the favor. Only fair, wouldn't you say?" "I, I, I don't know whwhwhat you mmmean." Glitch managed to stammer at last. He forced a silly grin onto his face. "I'm just a head case, why would I have any information you'd want?" "Stop the stupid act!" Zero began pacing the floor of the cabin. "I KNOW you recognised me when you saw me. That means you know who I am and what I want. I have my suspicions about this so called 'weapon' shipment to Finaqua and you are in the queen's circle." Zero became very still, his eyes impaling Glitch's. "Be careful with your next words, Ambrose. You do not want me angry with you." Glitch blanched. His brown eyes mesmerized by the icy blue of Zero's cold stare, his mind spirilling down into the welcome abyss of blackness, Glitch softly said "I don't know anything. I am no one, I have no name" over and over until he believed it himself. Not even the blows raining down on him changed the chant.
Zetta watched as the guards dragged a muttering Glitch out of the cabin and into another without windows. They tossed his body inside and slammed shut the lock while one took position to guard the door. A clearly disguisted Zero appeared at his cabin door and called to his officers. "Get the men ready to leave in the morning. We head out for Finaqua in full force." "What about the prisoner, sir? Do we take him?" "Just leave him in there. I'll deal with what's left of him when we get back. Too bad we don't have a spare tin suit." "Ah, sir. Regarding that spare tin suit….."
In the bustle of the next morning's activity, Zetta managed to avoid getting caught up in the preparations. His training as a hunter for his tribe served him well as he succeeded in blending into the forest. After the latest batch of prisoners was packed off deeper down the trail and with the army itself decamped and marching towards the east, he crept out of his hiding hole. Slipping carefully between the cabins to avoid anyone who might have lingered behind, he stole up on the windowless cabin. "Gitch! Can you hear me? There are no windows, I cannot see." No response. His lockpicking skills not at their finest, Zetta took a large rock and slammed it into the latch. The door swung open and he stepped inside. No one was there. A soft noise behind caused him to whirl around. There, standing in the sunlight beyond the blackness of the cabin walls were his countrymen. They were painted and dressed for war and carried their weapons in hand. The front one stepped up and handed Zetta a bow and arrow quiver. "Come, we will show you where he is. And then we follow the enemy." Slipping the quiver over his shoulder, Zetta trotted along behind the troop. At last, his wish for revenge and vendetta was going to be answered. But first he had to make sure his friend was alive.
They stopped a few hundered feet into the forest. In the middle of a small clearing stood a tin suit, tilted to one side. There were fresh, bright marks scraped into the rust of the side where new bolts had been pounded in. Taking a large rock like the one he had used to smash the cabin lock, Zetta pounded the bolts out. A loud whooosh sound and the door creaked open as a cloud of fog spilled out into the fresh
air. Nothing stirred for a moment and then Glitch fell out onto the grass. Zetta turned him onto his back and peered into his blank, unseeing eyes. "Glitch! You're safe. We got you out, but we have to flee." Glitch's lips moved. "I cannot hear what you say. Speak louder please." He leaned in closer. "I don't know anything I am no one I have no name I don't know anything I am no one I have no name I don't know anything I am no one I have no name"
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Cain shifted in the saddle and looked at the army behind him, the long ride had brought them to within a mile of where he had last heard Glitch. He ordered the army to make a silent, cold camp and deployed the guards. He did not want to take any chance that a Longcoat patrol might find them. Dismounting, he signalled Raw to come with him and the two friends walked to the path to search for tracks. It didn't take long to find the spot where someone, probably Glitch, had been knocked unconsious and put on a pack animal. They followed the trail for a little while and noticed what looked like small, moccasined feet keeping pace with the pack animal. A dubious look on his face, Cain looked at Raw. "Glitch alive. Small man help him." "Can you sense him now?" Raw knew what Cain was asking and searched for the link. "Mind blank. Pain. Darkness." A puzzled expression spread onto his face. "Know nothing. No name. No one." Cain mounted his horse and waited for Raw to mount his. "We better not tell DG about that right now. We have to concentrate on the battle. If they have fallen for the ruse, then the Longcoat army will be coming back down this road soon and we have to be ready."
DG stood up from the log she was sitting on when the two men came into camp. "Did you find anything?" "We found what looks like the Longcoat army heading west. Glitch led us right to them, even if that wasn't his intention. It looks like they took him prisoner. You know, in a strange way, his getting lost gives us an advantage because I was following him when he stumbled into them. Who knows how long it would've taken us to find them otherwise." DG seemed a little cheered by them finding out that Glitch was at least still alive. "So, that means that if they believed the information, then the Longcoats will be coming back this way, right? And Glitch will be with them, right?" Cain gave a pained look. "We don't know if they believed the information. If Glitch told them…" At DG's angry start he silenced her with "No, we cannot be sure he hasn't told them. If the leader recognised who he is then…. But there is no time to worry about that, Princess. Right now we have believe that they will comeback this way to attack Finaqua and we have to discuss using their ignorance to our advantage. We do have surprise on our side." Within a few minutes the three and their captains were deep in strategy discussions.
A gray dawn broke as Cain, DG and Raw took up position along the road. Scouts sent out earlier had confirmed that the Longcoat army was indeed coming down the trail. With all the men and weapons ready, they waited for the first of the Longcoats to come into view. At first, the faraway vibration of hundreds of feet hitting the ground was difficult to hear but as the sun rose burning away the morning mist it drummed into the bones of the waiting men. Finally the first of the oncoming army could be glimpsed through the trees. They came closer, seemingly wary and on the look out for trouble. Cain tensed and raised in hand. No time to change any plans now. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. NOW! His hand dropped and the forest exploded with gunpowder and yells. A hundred Longcoats fell but the rest quickly formed into a battle line and began shooting back. "Jeb, take your men and join the left wing and
outflank them on the hill. Secure the higher ground." Jeb ran off, barking orders. "Looks like we got 'em by surprise." He turned and grinned at DG. His grin faded as he saw what was beyond her. Charging down the hill, led by the familiar figure of Zero, were a hundred mounted Longcoats. They had outflanked him! And he had just sent his forces away. Cursing, Cain pulled DG away and fired off a few shots as they ran. Branches tore at their clothes and whipped their faces as they raced towards their main forces, yelling to them to turn and face the charging Longcoats.
Suddenly, arrows fell through the air hitting the mounted Longcoats. Another barrage of arrows and the force was in turmoil, they could not see this enemy. "First Patrol with me! Take those Longcoats!" A group of men broke off from the main fight and ran up the hill. Gunfire and arrows filled the air and it was difficult to tell who was getting the best of the fight. All he could do was keep firing at anything with a Longcoat. And hope that Jeb was able to support the attack on the main group.
After an eternity the noise stopped and the fog cleared. The Longcoats were littered on the forest floor. The queen's men had triumphed. Jeb ran up to Cain and yelled "WE DID IT! There are a few running back into the woods, but most of them are dead or captured. Why didn't you tell us about the little folk helping?" "Because I didn't know it myself until they started shooting those arrows." A weary Cain walked up to a feathered, painted little man. The smaller boy standing next to him eyed Cain with keen awareness. "Thank you for helping us, without you joining in right then we might have been lost. How can we thank you? You usually scorn any contact with us, why did you help?" The man pushed the boy forward as if to say "you tell him." "A man I think you know was good to me. I helped him get free. Now he needs your help to heal. Come." With that he turned and ran back up the hill where a form laid very still among the leaves. DG and Raw caught up with Cain at the top of the hill. Glitch lay on his back, eyes open and staring. "Glitch! You're all right!" DG yelled and fell on her knees next to the limp form and pulled him up. Glitch's eyes focused for an instant and then went blank. He shrank back and started muttering "I don't know anything I am no one I have no name I don't know anything I am no one I have no name I don't know anything I am no one I have no name."
They placed Glitch gently on a sling and carried him down the hill where a cart stood waiting and Raw climbed in beside him, his whole body focused on Glitch. "What happened to him, Cain? What did Zero do to him?" "I don't know DG, we have to wait to see what Raw finds out. I'm going to talk to that boy over there. He seems to know a lot about what happened." Zetta watched as his friend was transferred to the cart, the viewer holding on tightly. He watched as the blonde tin man came up to him. "Glitch was my friend. I am grateful for your help." Zetta peered up at the tall man, "The Longcoats hurt Glitch. They asked him questions but he said no. I think he forgot so that he could not tell them what they wanted to know." DG touched Cain's arm, "Raw thinks that Glitch has retreated into his mind. What's left of it, that is. He isn't sure he will be able to come back." She choked back a sob. "Cain, he resisted so strongly that he locked himself away! We don't know if he'll ever come back!
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The castle was somber. Not what you would expect from a victorious people. The queen had declared a period of rejoicing and then had retreated into her chambers and refused to see anyone. The servants
didn't know if they should sing or cry. Little rejoicing went on. The entire palace kept an eye and ear open for any news on the queens former advisor. And what they did hear was not promising. Glitch lay on his bed, not responding to anyone. The princess and tin man took turns sitting with him while the viewer never left his side for days at a time. Almost two weeks had passed and still Glitch shrank from any touch, refused to look anyone in the eye. Cain gently sat down next to DG as she sat her vigil next to the sleeping Glitch. "We have to face it Princess, he is not going to get any better. You have to accept it. The doctors can't do anymore. Even Raw says he can do no more." DG whirled on him. "Get out. You may have given up, but NOT ME." Cain motioned Raw to come with him and slowly pulled the door shut to leave DG alone with Glitch. "We have to let her make her peace."
DG sat staring at the pale form stretched on the bed and took his hand. His breathing was shallow and uneven, his body ever in motion as if he were running from a terrible foe. His forehead was hot with fever. She thought she could hear his voice saying over and over again his litany of rejection of himself. "Glitch, come back to us, please. You were my very first friend in the O.Z. You were my first guide." A little laugh escaped her. "Not a very good guide maybe! Buttered corn indeed! But I don't know what I would have done without you.
"We never meant to say anything to hurt you. We love you, Glitch. You're our friend. We didn't want to hurt you. Please listen to me. We need you." Tears rolled down her cheeks and splashed onto her hand clasped tightly over Glitch's frantic fingers. "I don't know what else to say. I don't know what else to do to help you, Glitch. Cain can't be right. You have to come back to us." She closed her eyes in torment and started singing the nursery rhyme that always seemed to help her when she was a child. "Two little princesses dancing in a row. Spinning fast and freely, on their little toes." The form on the bed quieted and she kept singing. "Where the light will take them," A croaking voice joined hers, "no one ever knows." Together: "two little princesses dancing in a row." With a laugh, DG looked down at the brown eyes looking back at her with recognition. "Glitch! You're back!" Confused, Glitch stared at her and in a dry leaf voice said, "I'm back? Where did I go?" Tears of joy now replacing the sad tears, DG hugged him and declared, "Oh, I don't know. But we will never let you go there again."
