He hesitated, frozen for a moment by the struggle to come up with an explanation.
“Horses,” he managed to say finally.
“Horses?”
“Pigs.”
“What?”
“Rain covering!” Munver blurted out. “I have to go and check on the rain covering!”
In a state of high excitement now, he hurried out into the snow, letting the door swing shut in his wake.
Garrett stared at the door, trying to work out what could possibly have worked his host up into such a ridiculous condition, but then he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes and told himself not to worry. The man was clearly a lunatic, he reasoned, and it would be all too easy to get entirely lost in the task of untangling a lunatic’s plans. Besides, he preferred to be alone right now as he continued to struggle for a little more strength. He knew that despite his growing weakness, he had to fix the cart in the morning and then he had to set back out on the road to resume his journey. For a moment the task felt utterly impossible, but he told himself that somehow he would find the necessary resolve. He would get to where he was going.
Suddenly his eyes opened wide, and in that moment he realized he’d heard the distant thump of somebody climbing up onto his cart.
Ten
“Damn it, what are you doing?” Garrett gasped as he shoved the door open and stumbled out into the driving snow.
Clutching his belly, still feeling constant ripples of pain that threatened at any moment to burst out and consume him, he struggled to make his way around the side of the cabin. Whereas a moment ago he’d been slumped in the chair, barely able to summon the strength to keep his eyes open, now he was filled with a righteous mix of anger and fear and pure blind fury. He knew he’d heard Munver messing about with the cart, and the thought of that man interfering with the purchase was enough to send Garrett into a frenzy.
“Stop!” he called out, but he was surprised to hear that his voice was hoarse and frail. “For the love of God, man, stop whatever it is that you’re up to!”
Stumbling, he barely managed to keep from falling down into the snow. He stopped and leaned against the side of the cabin, and in that moment the pain in his side began to tighten a little. Looking ahead, he was just about able to make out the shape of the cart, and then he saw a faint shape moving about at the rear section. His worst fears were now confirmed, and this realization spurred him to set out again, forcing his way through the snow and the pain until finally he reached the side of the cart and he once more had to steady himself.
Now he could hear Munver constantly scrabbling about on the cart’s rear section.
“I swear,” Garrett muttered as he pushed through the snow, “if you—”
Stopping suddenly as he rounded the corner, he was horrified to see Munver on his hands and knees on the cart’s rear, with his pants pulled down and his plump buttocks raised high in the snow.
Too shocked for a moment to react, Garrett spotted a faint light in Munver’s hand. He tilted his head slightly, trying to understand what he was seeing. Perhaps his fury blinded him, or perhaps he simply could not believe what was right in front of his eyes, but it took longer than it should for him to realize that Munver was mumbling away to himself while holding a candle to the frozen woman’s nether regions and scraping his fingernails against the mound between her legs.
“It’s not fair!” Munver hissed. “Why’s it still not soft?”
Suddenly letting out a furious roar, Garrett lunged forward and grabbed Munver by the scruff of the neck before hauling him back and throwing him out of the cart. Crying out again, he slammed Munver down against the snow and stared wide-eyed in horror as the pitiful figure wriggled and squirmed and tried desperately to pull his pants back up.
“What are you doing?” Garrett shouted, as snow continued to fall all around them. His weakness had been blasted away by a resurgent fury, and he felt for a moment as if he could tear Munver apart with his bare hands. “Tell me right now, or I swear I’ll kill you!”
Munver still hadn’t managed to get his pants up, but he was sobbing now and seemed to be in a state of panic.
Turning back to look at the frozen bodies, Garrett saw that the candle had tipped over and that the flame had been extinguished. A section of wood had been placed as a kind of cover, and a sense of dread and disgust began to rise through Garrett’s chest as he finally understood exactly what Munver had been attempting to achieve. Revolted to the point of nausea, Garrett reached out to steady himself against the rear of the cart, and he began to consider exactly what punishment he should mete out. It took only a second or two for him to realize that there was only one real option. This pathetic runt of a man had to be put to death.
Gritting his teeth, he turned to face Munver, but at the last moment he stopped as he saw the damage to the frozen man’s hand.
No.
Impossible.
Please, no.
For a few seconds, not daring to believe what he was seeing, Garrett stared at the spot where a finger had been snapped away. Then, ignoring the pain in his gut, he clambered up onto the rear of the cart and took a closer look. When he saw that the gold coin was missing, something in his eyes immediately changed. It was as if he had seen Death itself staring back at him.
Slowly, he turned and saw that Munver was finally on his feet, and that his pants were back up.
“Where is it?” Garrett asked.
“Go to hell!” Munver shouted between sobs. “You can’t just grab me like that! You’ve got no right to be—”
“Where is it?” Garrett screamed, scrambling off the cart and rushing at him, grabbing him by the throat and then swinging him around before slamming him against the cart’s side and eliciting a pained squawk from the man’s lips. “Where is the coin you took?”
Munver tried to answer, but his throat was being squeezed to tight and all he could manage was a pained splutter.
“Where is it?” Garrett yelled, before stepping back and then punching Munver in the chest, snapping a rib and sending him screaming down onto his knees in the snow. “Give it to me now, before it’s too late!”
Clutching his injured chest, Munver stared straight ahead as he tried to overcome the agonizing pain. Before he had a chance to respond, he was hauled back up and pressed back against the cart, and he saw Garrett’s furious face leaning toward him.
“You have no idea what you’re fooling with!” Garrett said firmly. “Give the coin back to me right now!”
“It’s mine now,” Munver spluttered. “It’s payment for my hospitality and—”
Garrett snarled and punched him again, this time higher in the chest, then he hauled him away from the cart, spun him around, and punched him so hard in the face that several teeth flew loose as Munver fell down against the snow. Worried that this would not be enough, Garrett listened for a moment to his grovelling cries and then he punched him again, harder this time.
“Now!” Garrett roared, before turning and looking at the two frozen bodies. He watched them for a moment, particularly the man, and then he turned to look down at Munver.
Clutching his mouth as blood splattered onto the snow, Munver was whimpering as he tried and failed to get up.
“Fine,” Garrett snarled, “I’ll find it myself.”
Munver screamed as Garrett knelt on his chest, then he continued to scream as he felt his clothes being torn from his body. Garrett was searching for every pocket, for every space where the coin could conceivably be hidden, but finally he realized that there was nowhere left to check so he looked back at Munver’s bloodied face. He felt no pity, only pure, unbridled hatred and disgust.