Snippet #2640518

Anna wrapped herself up in her coat and curled up in the corner of the wagon, and tried to let the rhythmic thumping of the wheels lull her into a few hours of rest as it did for Horatio. But her mind would not let her rest as she dwelled on the letter. The sinner they had caught said that Azrael's men were selling the children in the East. It was hardly an impossible scenario, to think that debauchery and wealth could lead to the cruelest of evils. The industrialists and bankers and politicians built monuments to their vanity and depravity in the East. A few butchered families meant nothing to them. But there were just as many families in the East, masses of immigrants with no law that would protect a few missing children among thousands. Why target western homesteads when there were hundreds, thousands more in rotting cities like New York?

And then there was Azrael, Uriel, and the letter. The bandits were nothing but petty thugs, paid in blood money to do the work of something far beyond their understanding. And now...dead to the last man, or about to me. Their leader may have known the truth, but he was dead for it, just like Cobbs. It was all so neat. Even the work of snuffing out the girls' sinful father had been done. It was too neat.

Despite her worried mind, exhaustion from a night of riding and killing eventually caught up with her and lulled her into a fitful sleep, until the cart shuddered to a stop and woke her. Anna bit back a yawn, content to let the posse shove and prod the sinner on his way to the noose. She slowly followed the posse, watching the townsfolk clamor for blood. She had seen such a sight plenty of times, encouraged it herself on more than one occasion as she and her fellow Dogs had dragged a sinner back to town to face the Lord's justice. It should have been a good feeling, to see this again.

Anna was glad they had a chair and noose instead of a proper gallows. She wanted the sinner to die slowly, knowing that his actions had all led to this moment. But it was Horatio's right as the pack leader to end him, if Samuel had not interrupted. She eyed the brother, remaining silent in deference to Horatio. Who stuck the blow in the end mattered little to her.

She didn't blink as the chair clattered away and the rope snapped faintly as it grew taunt, nor when the crowd roared and the sinner gasped and wheezed for breath. She had wanted to see the man die slowly for his crimes, but now it only felt like a hollow victory. Red Road would mourn, but a child had been saved, justice had been paid in blood, and the posse even earned pay for their bravery. Everything had come to an end.

But the look on Samuel's face sickened her. It was not as if the macabre joy of seeing such a sinner die was unlikely, or even against the tenets of the Faith. The snuffing out of such a sinful wretch was to be celebrated. There were plenty of Dogs who did. Anna herself had enjoyed the rush of enacting the Lord's justice in gunpowder and lead on more than one occasion. It was a slippery slope, but ultimately the righteous acts of violence were necessary, and thus to deny the joy of doing the Lord's work was counterproductive. But there was no righteous fury in Samuel, only a cold, calculating malice, and his cruel mockery to the bandit.

A sinking thought crept into Anna's mind. The look of shocked recognition in the bandit's eyes as Samuel had sneered at him. The man who had ensured that every one of the bandits would die, after the children had been taken away, all but a token victim. And so eager to ensure the last sinner's end.

It was not as if member of the clergy were immune to corruption. They were still human, flawed and capable of any evil, if they so chose to. But it was not an accusation to be make lightly for the slightest of infringements, much less this...and yet, who else would know each and every child in Red Road and the surrounding homesteads? Who else would children reveal the sins of their fathers to? Who else was close enough to give orders directly to Chesterfield, but still not a local?

But the question that remained was why such a man would give the Dogs a letter that revealed far more of a nefarious plot than an ignorant bandit. There were too many questions, too much at stake, and she could not be sure where her speculation could be swirling together with fear and paranoia. Could the brother truly have gone through such an ordeal to convince the doctor of his suffering, all to ensure his deception went through?

"Uncle..." Anna whispered to Horatio as they watched the sinner gurgle and kick at the air. "We must find a moment to speak with the girl, alone. Samuel...he sets me ill at ease."

She then cleared her throat, speaking more clearly to the archdeon over the din of the crowd cheering at the last wheezing croaks of the sinner. "Brother, what do you think should be done with the children? Do you know if the girl and her brother have any other family they can go to? Or should we take them to an orphanage in New Life, perhaps?"