Another fairly long chapter: Dawn.

Stone

Chapter 33 – Race Riots

The following morning, Stone went into Greenford, riding Doug. Jason rode along with him. Rayla spent time with the children, including Sissy, who she was starting to think of as a second daughter. Sissy wanted to sew: it was the only thing she was good at, and this boosted her esteem. Rayla had her teach Emily to sew, by making clothes for her dolls from scrap. Normally Emily, only four, didn’t have the patience to sew, but when it was for doll clothes, she had more enthusiasm.

In town in the early dawn, Stone went first to the bakery, which was not open yet. But he popped in the back, and spoke to the baker to learn that the boys with their eggs would come in about an hour. He also asked for a larger order of rolls, enough to get his men to Three Rivers. And finally he told the baker about the fantastic meal they had at the Kithren house the night before. He suggested that he find another couple and try the place out, but not tonight: Stone expected his family would be eating there.

He was still talking when the boys arrived with the eggs. There were three of them: the older two and young Korry, who was surprised to meet his young friend, Jason. The four boys went outside, with Stone following soon.

There was a lineup for eggs, since many of their regular customers had missed them on the past two days. For a while it looked like there would be no problems, and Stone and Doug walked around the downtown that was just starting to wake up. Then Stone saw a group of white teen boys heading straight for the egg stands. A few more joined in when they saw the others.

“Lookit,” one boy said. “We told you not to come ‘round here. Do you need another lesson? The two older black boys went to the back of their stall and picked up their sturdy sticks. This caused the white boys to falter a bit, and Stone, riding up behind them saw several of the youngsters veer away from the mob. A bit of fun was one thing, but this was starting to look serious.

Even so there were more than a dozen there. One teen noticed that all but a few dozen eggs were sold but the customers, who had scattered when they saw trouble coming. “Looks like there aren’t many eggs to smash,” another lad said. “But I guess that means we’ll have more money to split up.”

The boys with sticks moved to the front of the stall. Alone they couldn’t stop 12 boys their age or older, but they were willing to take some lumps to pay the boys back for what they had done to Kinny two days earlier.

Stone moved into position behind the boys. His son Jason was in there, fingering his knife and protecting Korry. “Alright boys, I think it’s time for you to move along,” Stone said in his deepest voice. Another two boys veered away from the group.

“My dad is on the town council,” one boy said. “You can’t stop us.”

“I beg to differ on that,” Stone said, drawing Pate. He noticed that he didn’t go into battle mode. When half the boys fled, Stone flicked the sword. He hit the two boys who were mouthy and seemed to be ringleaders, but with the flat of the blade. Even so, the flat of Pate knocked the boys ten feet in either direction, and they were unconscious.

“Take these cretins to the healer,” Stone told the other boys, who had stepped away once their leaders had been taken out of action. They had four boys take each of the unconscious ones, and hauled them away.

Soon it appeared that the last group to run away and gone to get the patrol, and two soldiers appeared with swords drawn. “Is there any trouble here?” asked one. Stone recognized him as one of the soldiers he had led in the attacks against Kona last year.

“No trouble,” Stone said. “Just some of the town boys getting out of line a bit. I think they were the ones that attacked the egg boys the other day. You’ll find them down at the healer’s if you want to clear that up.

“Can’t,” the soldier said. “Town council told us to let that episode lay.”

Residents started to return for eggs, buying up the last few dozens. The boys had put down their sticks, and gladly waited on their customers, selling out before Stone had finished speaking with the soldier, who was glad that the big man was not in a fighting mood. He had seen Stone fight Kona, and was pretty sure that even if all eight soldiers were present, Stone would defeat them.

“Dad, can I go to the house with Konny?” Jason asked. “I heard you say that we were going to have supper there. We can play till then.”

Stone agreed. He had a meeting with the town council at 10, and if it ran long, the boy would be bored. Besides, Kalosun was already at the house, and might give the boys some lessons in Kithren culture.

A few minutes before 10, Stone noticed students running from the school building, gleeful that their lunch was two hours early, thanks to a town council building. Doug headed to the newly vacated building to meet with the council.

The first person he found in the building was Vilmer Zephyr, owner of the textile mill, and the textile store that had forced Rayla, Stone and Kalosun out the day before. When Vilmer saw Stone, his face got red, and he shouted to the two soldiers who had followed Stone into the building: “Arrest that man. He assaulted my son this morning. The boy is still unconscious at the healer’s.”

The soldier took a step forward, as if to obey, then a step back, seeing that it was Stone he was being ordered to arrest. He looked at his partner, and then at Stone, clearly in a quandary. Stone finally put him out of his misery: “Those two men decided not to arrest me earlier today when I stopped your son and his thugs from assaulting a local business endeavor. They clearly did not wish to die today at the end of my sword, and I presume that is still their intention. Perhaps we can let the whole council decide what to do.”

“I run the council,” Vilmer shouted. “And it pays the salary for these men. The boys were just chasing niggers out of town. Nothing wrong with that. You had no right to interfere. Arrest him.”

“The town pays them to chase bogus tax collectors out of town, and to escort drunks home or to the cells when they are a bit out of control. They are not paid enough to die on my sword, and both of these, and the other six, saw in action during the war with Kona. I doubt if all eight were here they would take me on: most would die, possibly all of them. If you wish to get a sword, you are welcome to take me on yourself.”

“I am a businessman, not a soldier,” Vilmer ranted. “The council will do as I tell them.”

While the man was shouting, other members of the council had arrived, and several got shocked looks on their faces at the mill-owner’s assertion that they were his patsies.

“I think it is time we call the meeting to order,” a weedy looking man said, taking the chair at the head of the table.

“I want to add items to the agenda,” Vilmer said. “First, we need to deal with the soldiers, who have been failing their duty. Then I wish to expel Mr. Stone from our town, and banish his from every returning, as a result of his interference.”

“A motion has been made to add to the agenda. Mr. Stone is already on the agenda, so I deem that portion of the request unnecessary. Who seconds the motion to discuss the soldiers?” the mayor said.

For a few minutes no councilor spoke, and Vilmer got hotter and hotter, until finally one man seconded the motion. The mayor called a vote, and two men rose their hands timidly in favor. The other three, mad that Vilmer said he alone ran the council, kept their hands down, and the mill owner stared them down, as if he was building an enemies list.

“That item is added to the end of the agenda, assuming the seconder and the mover are in agreement. Carried four to three. Mr. Stone: you are the first item on the agenda.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Mayor. “I was dismayed yesterday to be evicted from a local business, one owned by councilor Vitmer here, because I had a Kithren man with me. As you all know, my son is Kithren, and my daughter half-Kithren. I also learned that Kithren settlers coming to the town are denied entry and sent on to Greenwood. This must stop, immediately.”

At this point steam was nearly coming out of Vilmer’s ears, and he leapt to his feet.

“The law against niggers was passed by this council several months ago. What right do you have to demand that it be changed? You have no standing in this town. You are not even a resident.”

Stone stared at the man for a long moment, until he wilted under the glare of the giant and sat meekly down. “You are right, I am not a resident. But I seem to recall that the town was in a bad state before I first came. Taxes by the duke were draining the economy. Bandits appeared soon after. I left eight soldiers here, and the tax collecting and banditry stopped. I rather felt that my contributions to what is now a booming town would be remembered, but perhaps not.”

Stone continued. “However, you may have noticed that when I came to town a few days ago, four wagons of coal were left here. I have the sole license to ship coal from Greenstone to the lower valley. I believe one of those wagons went straight to Mr. Vilmer’s mill. The others will be shared by the townspeople. Have you considered how you will power your mill without coal, Mr. Vilmer?”

“There is wood,” Vilmer said bravely.

“Yes, wood that is currently being used to build new buildings in the town. I guess there will be no need for new buildings if the coal stops coming: the town starts to die. But wood costs three times what coal does, and when winter comes and people are forced to heat their homes with wood, that price will skyrocket. Your mill will need several more employees just to feed your furnaces with wood. Are you doing so well that you can afford that, Mr. Vilmer?”

The mill owner was silent. Stone knew that his business would no longer be profitable, especially if Stone was not shipping his textiles out of the town. He could still sell them, but not at such a good price.

“So this is my proposal to the council,” Stone said. “I will be back here in a couple months, bringing small coin for the town, which I understand is in short supply. By that time I want the law barring Kithrens removed, and I expect to see at least two families of that race living here. You will no longer chase them away, but instead will have to beg them to stay, if you want coal from my wagons, or a way to sell your goods cheaply.”

“And there is a second request I have to make. In Greenstone we have free health care. Anyone can go to the clinic and be treated free of charge. Those with money often provide the healers with extra coin, what we called a tip back where Rayla and I come from. I want the town to consider making payments to the healers in this area as well. I am uncertain what the local woman should get, but I recommend eight silver a week for the healer out of town. I have seen her work, and was impressed by her abilities.”

“She’s a nigger,” Vilmer lept to his feet. “No nigger deserves eight silver a week. I only pay my top men that.”

“Well, that is my proposal, gentlemen.” Stone said. “As I say, I expect things to be changed when I return.”

“Wait,” Vilmer shouted, still on his feet from the last outburst. “This man assaulted my son and his friends today. He must be put on trial.”

“Your son and his thugs were attacking the egg sellers. Again.” Stone said. “I merely ended their attack. I agree that I hit your son rather hard, but these soldiers can attest to what would have happened if I had not used the flat of my blade.”

“Decapitation,” one of the soldiers said.

“And I doubt that your healer could have done much to heal that kind of wound,” Stone said, turning and walking out of the building.

“After him,” Vilmer shouted at the soldiers. “Bring him back. We are not done with him.”

“Is that the wish of the entire council?” the soldier said. “Because I will resign my position rather than face his sword.” The members of the council looked down, and refused to look at Vilmer.

“I declare that a motion,” the mayor said. “Is there a seconder?” Again no reaction for a minute, and the mayor was about to declare the motion lost for want of a second, when the same man who had seconded the motion on the agenda raised his hand. This time the vote was 5-2 against.

Stone was on the street by then, and he saw Vilmer’s son, with a bandage around his head, stumble out of what the big man assumed was the healer’s house. The boy glared at him, but did not approach. Stone checked and found the egg sellers were gone, so he mounted Doug and headed towards the wagon train camp. There he met Rayla and Emily, and a proud Sissy who waved several pairs of underpants she had sewn for him and Jason, not realizing that waving underwear from the steps of the caravan was not good manners. But Stone merely thanked her, and gave her a kiss on the forehead, the first time he had kissed her. He had noticed a longing look in her eyes when he kissed his daughter, and she swelled with pride at the mark of recognition and affection.

In the early evening the wagon train packed up and headed towards Three Rivers, or Old Sarn as many of the drovers called it. The caravans veered off when it came to the junction to the hatchery: Stone and his family had been invited for another Kithren feast. Kaloson and Jason were already there. They would all catch up with the wagons at the camp that night.

At the house in front of the hatchery, the mother of the family was again sitting on the porch. When the family came out, there were smiles of friendship this time around. The two dogs of the Stones were kept in the caravans: they had not been raised to deal with all the chickens running around like the Kithren dogs were. Stone was told that the hatchery dogs were kept with chicks as pups, and as the birds grew into hens, the dogs would protect them, but never harm them.

Emily was immediately swept up by the mother: if her daughter Kali and her white boyfriend ever had children, they would look like Emily. And it didn’t hurt when Emily started to call the woman ‘Grandma.’

The meal was as good as the prior one, or better, since the family knew that Stone would pay for the meal, and they didn’t need to stint. The egg boys had bought buns from the bakery, but there was Kithren sweets for starters. Kallopaws were somewhat like the pastries from the Greenstone bakeries, but with a flaky dough and drenched in honey. Jason, the family expert on sweets, pronounced them perfect, and begged Rayla to learn to make them. Kalosun beamed with pride when the boy showed that he enjoyed a traditional food of his people. He was also proud to be able to hold a spoon, albeit clumsily, and was able to eat for himself at the main table instead of being fed in the kitchen.

Stone’s family was about to leave, and take the caravans after the wagons, when the Kithren dogs started barking alarmingly. The chickens were all in their coops, so Stone told Jason to get Steel and Daisy out, but to keep them close.

All the men from the dinner went outside and headed to the north side of the house, near the coop. Through the trees Stone could see many torches, and quickly realized what this was. There were over a dozen men with torches, approaching in spite of the dogs barking at them. If a dog came too close, a man would use his torch to force it back.

Stone got Doug and Pate, telling the boys from the hatchery to get old blankets from the barn and douse them with water. Korry and Jason went with the older boys, and got a blanket each.

Stone rode up until he was about 20 yards in front of the men and yelled for them to halt. They did, mostly, although two men kept coming.

“There’s going to be roast chicken tonight,” a voice Stone recognized shouted. “And then roast nigger next.” It was Vilmer at the center of the men and one of the ones still edging forward.

“And look, nigger-lover. Your precious soldiers are with us. All eight of them. They’ll make sure we don’t fail.”

The eight men on horseback came from the rear through the torchbearers. But they didn’t seem to be in attack formation. Instead four lined up each either side of Stone and turned to face the torches. “We followed you to ensure safety of the town,” the sergeant shouted. “But now we are outside of town limits, so we feel free to fight with Stone again.”

This caused some of the men to waver. Most were employees of Vilmer’s mill, and had been urged to participate by their boss. But Vilmer was not to be swayed by the apparent change in allegiance. He stepped forward and thrust his torch in Doug’s face, expecting the horse to give way. It didn’t.

But Stone pulled his sword and immediately was in battle mode. The sword swung, and suddenly Vilmer was astonished to see his torch fall to the ground. Then he saw his hand and arm were still holding it. Blood gushed from the wound on his shoulder, where his arm had once been attached. He fell to the ground.

Another man rushed at Stone, and his fate was worse: he sword went through his neck, and head and arm both toppled to the ground.

“The rest of you: I can do this all day. If you would rather not lose an arm, or your head, throw down your torches.” Almost every torch was thrown onto the ground. “All right boys,” Stone turned part way around. “Your time to shine. Use the blankets to put out the torches and any fires they are starting.”

“Arrest as many as you can,” he said to the sergeant. Doug helped in the process, plowing into at least five men trying to run away: knocking them down.

Korry and Jason were near the lane, putting out one of the torches. Of course, staring at the fire destroyed their night vision, so they barely recognized the man who had tossed the torch as he jumped towards Korry. The boy stumbled back as the man said: “At least one nigger will die tonight.”

But as he tried to stab Korry with his small hand knife, Jason had pulled his much larger knife, and stuck it in the man’s ribs. The man screamed, and Jason twisted the blade, as both Stone and Kalosun had taught him.

Stone heard the scream and headed towards it, telling the sergeant to have four of the prisoners take Vilmer to the healer up the road.

“Not to the nigger,” the barely conscious man cried as Stone rode away. “Take me to town.”

Stone heard sobbing in the forest, and found the two boys and the dead man. It was the town councilor who had supported Vilmer in the meeting. Jason’s knife was still in his gut. Each boy was sobbing, with Jason tightly holding Steel. He had wounded his birth father, but this was different. He had killed a man for the first time. Stone got down to hug the boy, who clung to the big man. “I kilt him, Dad,” Jason moaned. “I had to. He was gonna kill Korry.”

“You did good, boy,” Stone said, reaching over and pulling the knife from the body. “Here is your knife. You’ll want to clean it later.”

“I don’t think I want to be a soldier anymore,” Jason sobbed. “It is too hard.”

Jason picked up both boys, and put them on Doug, who walked them back to the house, with the dogs along side.

Back at the house, the older boys had finished putting out all the fires and were reporting back to their mother. When Stone approached, she rushed out to hug the big man. “The boys say you saved us,” she gushed. “How will we ever thank you.”

“With your friendship,” Stone said, but just then the woman noticed her boy on the horse.

“Korry? Is he hurt,” she cried.

“No Ma,” the boy said as Stone helped him to the ground. “Thanks to Jason. A man tried to stab me, but Jason got to him first. He’s my best friend forever.”

Stone had let Jason down next, and Rayla rushed up. “This one needs his mother,” the big man said. “He made his first kill tonight and that is never easy.”

He turned to the black woman: “Do you mind if we leave the caravans here tonight? I think we will need to go back to town tomorrow.”

“Tonight, or forever if you need to. We are in your debt.”