What Lucy said is true in a little town that’s name never made his attention. Lucy only holds interest in tragedy, wars, plagues and torment. This town would hold no interest to him for it went untouched during a ten year war that ravaged other places surrounding them. The townsfolk knew of such things because it never affected their lives. They simply didn’t care. Now some of their boys choose to go to battle and enlisted as soldiers. Only one soldier came home. We will call him Gunner. He was no longer a boy, but a stout man. No one in the town recognized him in his green army uniform with medals decorating his chest. His golden hair was cropped short in soldier fashion. His mother even commented that his once innocent blue eyes held a hardness, like ice that refuses to melt. His welcome was short lived, as families of the other boys came to him for their whereabouts. Each time his answer was the same,
“Liam died honorably by my side, John died honorably by my side, Hugo died honorably by my side…”
He always answered the same. This young man could say nothing more. If they had looked into his eyes, they would see the unshed tears. If they looked at his bare arms covered in little scars and burns. They would understand he was unable to say more. To watch his fellow soldiers, no his friends. To watch them fall by his side and he unable to do more than defend those still alive. It would be hard on anyone to say much more than a single sentence. Yet no one in this little peaceful town had known war’s painful grasp. They could not comprehend his pain or his dispassionate way of speech. It was his own way of healing himself. The families who lost their sons could not see this. How could any parent understand the loss of a child. How can any man comprehend the loss of cherished friends. Which pain is worse? I personally don’t care.
On the first sunday of his return Gunner refused to attend church. He was sitting outside underneath an old oak tree seemingly asleep. His uniform which he refused to removed was wrinkled and smelled to high heaven. A bottle of wine lay tucked underneath one arm. His mother took notice, but made no comment. Instead she bade him to rise from rest for it was god’s day after all.
“No,”
He responded eyes still shut tight. His whole body tense as Baba’s favorite bone underneath her teeth. She demanded an answer, getting cross with her son. Since his return he had not worked, nor moved much except when promoted to eat. Always a bottle of some sort by his side. He opened his blue eyes and watched the clouds sway in the air. He let out a long sigh and his body seemed to relax. And for the first time in seven days, for she had been counting. He said more than just yes, no, or died honorably.
“If god exists then let him come to me. I shall not go to an empty house where no master abides. I shall not leave out food and drink that will only rot after a day. No, should he be, let him come here and I shall attend to him personally, the way a host should treat a guest.”
“The devil shall have his way with you child!”
His mother squeaked, her hands shaked as she held onto her curefix. Gunner smiled a small horrible smile. It showed only the top row of his teeth.
“Then let him have me.”
I’m sure the dear reader can guess what happened next. His mother ran screaming that the devil had a grip on her son. He did not. A much darker force had overtaken him. This was a force not even Lucy had the power to control, much less use.
It was not long before Gunner was surrounded by the townsfolk. Gunner got up and made his way to leave when Liam’s mother stopped him. She demanded to know how her son died. Gunner remembered holding the young boy’s broken body. The blood flowing and mixing with the heavy rain. Liam was dead by the time Gunner got him to him.
“I can’t.”
Liam’s mother swung her fist as hard as she could and hit Gunner square on the nose. She kept hitting him over and over. Gunner did not resist or fight back. It was John’s fathers who wrapped arms around her to stop the onslaught. Gunner got up from the ground with bottle in hand. The folks that had created a cage of bodies parted when he neared them. Gunner walked and walked until the town was far behind him. He kept walking til all he heard was the birds joyous cries. He didn’t stop until he found an old cut stump underneath a sturdy tree. Gunner was complating how sturdy the tree was, when he heard the sound of hoof steps behind him. He wondered if he had stumbled onto someone’s farmland. Or perhaps a goat had escaped it’s herder and ran away into the woods. Either way Gunner was no longer alone to complete his plan. He turned slowly as the noise stopped just a few steps away from him. Gunner believed after the war, nothing could freeze his blood with fear. He was wrong.
“Good Morning young soldier,”
Lucy greeted with a low bow toward Gunner. Back then his body did not have the fair form it has taken now. His body was once the color of chicken shit. His whole frame was skin stretched tight over a skeleton. The beautiful emerald green jacket he wore seemed overly large for his small frame. When he stood tall his eyes opened revealing a dark blue that seemed to simmer like flames in a fire. Steam rose from his bald head.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Lucy hissed with about the elegance of a duck doing ballet. I’m afraid he was as bad a talker as he was a looker. Gunner remembered his training and took a fighting stance. Though no rifle he held in his hand, just an empty bottle. Lucy held up his hands in mock surrender. He chuckled a bit but it came out hoarse like a cat hacking a hairball. With slow measured hoof steps he slowly circled around the soldier. He eyed him with the the pleasure of a cat about to pounce on its prey. He stopped in front of Gunner once more and extended a hand forward. Gunner stayed tensed but took the hand in his own. A brief shake followed. Lucy laughed once more before letting Gunner’s hand go free.
“A soldier through and through,”
Lucy mused placing a hand underneath his chin. Gunner only nodded for fear his voice may betray his false confidence. After all only fools would not fear Lucy.
“I’ve been waiting for a soldier for I have a proposition for one. Wealth and property for the rest of his life if he should but consider it.”
Lucy tucked his hands in the pockets of the beautiful green jacket as he spoke. He took out a handful of gold coins, slipping past his fingers to fall into a heap by Gunner’s feet. Lucy’s eyes watched the gold fall away. Gunner refused to look away even for a moment, for he knew whom he spoke too. He had feared meeting this ghoulish creature on the battlefield. Now here he was searching to take what was not his by another means.
“That quite depends on what the soldier must give.”
Gunner responded and was surprised to find the fear that had gripped him slowly fading away. Lucy threw his head back in a wild laugh that shook his body like a skeleton rattling. He had found a soldier worthy of his time and effort. Lucy tilted his head upwards and bade Gunner to prove himself a soldier true. Gunner turned slowly at the sound of a low growl behind him. A large brown bear was lunging toward him. Mouth agape and eyes blazing. Gunner lifted the wine bottle only to find his old gun had replaced it. Gunner grinned. He fired and the bear moved no more. He found the gun had returned back into a bottle. Lucy hobbled over and with his fingers as sharp as a barber’s blade he shaved the bear clean. Lucy proudly held up the fur close to Gunner’s frame.
“For seven long years you must not bathe, shave, cut your nails, or pray. You will wear this green cloak to provide for yourself and this bear fur as a reminder of our deal. Should you die or break our oath,”
Lucy face pressed close to Gunner’s own. His breath smelled like moldy cheese left out in the sun for nine days. Gunner held his breath.
“Then your soul and life belong to me.”
“Seven years is fair by me.”
The jacket fit Gunner as if it had been made for him. I’m sure dear listener it was. Next came the fur still slightly damp, but no blood stained the lovely cloth. Lucy placed Gunner’s own military coat onto his skinny frame. It was almost comical had big it was on him. Before leaving the two promised to meet here after seven years had passed.
“If you make it that long.”
Lucy mocked before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke.
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