The Watcher and The Hunter
Part 3: Split
The following day, I left the tent city as soon as the sun rose. I returned to the central part of town, where people were busy with their daily life. Workers carried wooden beams up and down scaffolds, building new houses; shoppers went to and from the grocery store with their baskets full of food; others headed to their jobs at the factories or the farms. I met Rue at the inn, and we strolled around the town. She told me what had happened the last night she had seen Sarah with Dr. Stine. Then, we stopped at a café with outdoor seats and ordered drinks.
“So, what’s the plan,” I asked Rue.
“Well, the plan was,” she emphasized the word was, “to follow him after he picked up his new patient, get some concrete proof that he’s up to something shady, and track him down to his hideout. But you messed that up last night when you confronted him in front of everyone. So now he’s probably gone into hiding, and we’ll be lucky if he ever shows his face again.”
“You should have told me last night when I was at the Inn trying to get a room. Sarah vouched for me in your story.”
“When was the last time you even cared about Sarah? From what she told me, you abandoned her and this town over a year ago. She’s been waiting for you since, hoping you will return. Maybe she wouldn’t be in this mess if you had kept your promise.”
"That was a tough time for me, and don't put this all on me. You were with her the night she disappeared. You could have saved her if you had paid more attention." I snapped back at her, trying to shift the blame.
"She asked me to leave her alone, and just because we're in love doesn't mean I spy on her every move. I trust Sarah. But I'm not surprised that you'd try to change the subject. I could tell from how Sarah talked about you that you're the type who runs away from his problems. So, we need a new plan to find her if she's still alive. It would be best to stay in town this time if he shows up again. Then we need to start questioning everyone who knows this doctor: the governor, Jaradeen, the boy from the park... everyone."
"This is bullshit, Rue! I don't run from anything!" I shouted. "You don't know me, and I don't need your help to find Sarah either. I can do it on my own with the skills and strength I've gained. There are only two swamps within a 20-mile radius from which those leeches could have come. Have fun playing detective. I'll have Sarah back by the end of the week."
I slammed my fist on the table and got up to leave. I didn’t need Rue’s help on this one. I had been out in the wild for a long time and learned to track more challenging targets than a creepy doctor in a swamp. If Rue was as good as she claimed to be, she could catch up with me.
Before starting my journey, I needed to make a few stops in town. So, I headed to the local hunter shop first. They knew me there and had everything from bows to spears and jars to camouflage. The owner, Stalin, was something of a scientist himself. He studied nature more than anyone in town; he had learned from the same druids who taught me, so we worked well together. He was also a pretty clever engineer.
The bell rang when I walked into the hunting store. Stalin’s shop looked old-fashioned, with wooden racks of hunting gear, stuffed animals mounted on the walls, and posters showing animal anatomy.
“Stalin,” I said as I walked in. “I’m hunting a missing person somewhere around the swamps.” I didn’t have time for small talk; It was all business.
“Rotos. What do you need?” Stalin caught on to my urgency and went straight to business.
“A wet suit and goggles, something that will protect me from leeches; a spear; more arrows; rope; worms; some extra jars wouldn’t hurt; and a three-day food supply for my horse and me.”
“Oh, that’s an easy order.” He sounded relieved. “But wait, you said leeches? Look, check out this new arrow I’ve been working on.”
He led me to the back of his shop to a 30-meter target range. “you’ll like this,” he assured me,
“Jackson!” Stalin shouted to his apprentice, “Prep target 3A with some of the leeches we just got.”
After 5 minutes of waiting, Jackson walks in a miniature pig covered in leeches, with goggles covering his eyes.
“Put him 10 meters away. Thanks,” Stalin said.
Stalin explained his invention to me as he loaded his brass-plated crossbow with special arrows. “There isn’t much to leeches, really,” he said. “They live in water, so their bodies are fragile, especially when out of water. You know this. That’s why if you ever get one on you, you poke it with the end of a burning stick or something, and they die. I created this arrow based on that concept, but it will help you with the leeches.”
Stalin turned a brass gear on the back of his crossbow, pulling the string towards him and cocking the weapon. He placed his bolt on the grooved rail and aimed at the pig.
Stalin fired the bolt, and it flew through the air. At the 7-meter mark, the bolt exploded in a flash of light and sent a cone of fire toward the pig.
“Come look,” Stalin said, gesturing towards the pig.
So we walked up to the pig and saw it was burnt but still alive, while all the leeches were dead.
“See, it doesn’t shoot a fireball; there is no crude oil or anything to keep the fire burning after it hits; the fuel in these bolts is much more refined, so it burns out after 5 meters. The pig’s skin is thick enough to survive the blast, but the leeches are much more fragile and die instantly. I’m glad I got a practical use out of this invention.” Stalin explained to me.
“That’s awesome; I’ll take it. Is there anything I need to know on how to use it?” I asked.
“It’s simple; take this crossbow. See this hook on the back of the arrow?” Stalin showed me the hook at the end of the arrow. “Clip this to the string before you shoot it, and when the arrow leaves the crossbow, a fuse will be lit that detonates after 7 meters.”
“I like them,” I said.
“Perfect, I’ll have your equipment ready and sent to your stable by tomorrow morning.”
It was annoying that I had to wait until tomorrow morning to start this hunt, but I had no choice. It would be another night in the park for me. There was no way I would stay at the inn with Rue there after our argument.
I spent the rest of the day at the stable where I had left my horse, preparing my gear for tomorrow morning. I also decided to spend the night there; as the sun was setting, I didn’t want to deal with the homeless people. I didn’t need anything back in town.
“Yup, doing it,” I said out loud to myself. “Old girl is going to have some company tonight.”
A few hours later, after sunset, I had my sleeping bag ready and a lantern lighting up the space in the stable for me. As I was getting ready to lie down, I got an unwelcome visit from Rue.
“Oh great,” I thought to myself.
“I’m going by myself to save Sarah in the morning,” I told her as she walked up.
“I know that. I know you won’t stop and accept help. I came here for something else. I started my investigation into Dr. Stine today, and you ran off. I went and talked to Jaradeen, the leader of the homeless people. They don’t like the doctor either. They gave me this.” Rue pulled out a jar from her bag. “This is one of the leeches found on the boy from last night. The doctor left in a hurry and forgot to take it off him. It might help you in tracking Stine down.”
“Thanks,” I said gratefully. “I’m going to get Sarah back here by next week,” I assured Rue.
“I know you will; I will continue my investigation here. I got a tip from Jaradeen that the governor might know more about Dr. Stine than we think.”
