FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Slaughter at Stringybark Creek

Chapter Seven

(c) Cederwyn Whitefurr

24th August, 2017,

All Rights Reserved.

Owen woke Lachlan early the next morning, and Lachlan momentarily startled, as he seen the long bore rifle Owen held in one feathered paw.

"Let's go see if you're any good handling one of these - you strike me as having some experience..." Owen chuckled, then turned and walked out, as the sleepy Lachlan rose, doused his muzzle in a dish of cold water, then yawning, followed the Clydesdale. "I still think you've got a death wish - but you seem to have fooled Feredwyn - but I see in your eyes, young colt, you are a horse of honor - and seek revenge..."

"Am I that easily read?" Lachlan laughed weakly, then the stern glance from Owen silenced his laughter.

With a snort, Owen's usually friendly demeanour turned dark and troubled. "Son...killing a crippled horse? That's one thing, killing another person? That's totally another...I've done it, the God's know I hate myself for it - but I've done it. It was in defence of another, but does that make it any less henious? No. Taking a life is not something you should ever do lightly...even if that person deserves it. Believe me, I know all I need to know about Sargent MacGoven. More than enough about him, and I'd not shed any tears, if he were too - meet with an accident. I doubt many in Stringybark would."

Handing Lachlan the rifle, Owen looked down at the trembling younger Colt, then turned him about.

"First, this isn't like some low calibre rifle you'd have used to shoot at foxes and rabbits and such..." Owen admonished him. "This is a heavy caliber .445. It's got a kick like a cranky donkey, and if you're not expecting it - the recoil can almost feel like it'll tear your shoulder off. Now...pull it in tight to the shoulder, sight that ghost gum over there and..."

Lachlan felt the weight, way heavier than he expected, but obediently did as he was told, then squirmed as Owen moved in behind him, then reached around and double checked Lachlan's hold and pose.

"Good, that's right - night and tight against the shoulder, holding it steady, then as Owen stepped back, Lachlan took a few shallow breaths, then held the last and squeezed the trigger gently.

With an ear shattering boom, the rifle kicked up and back, and Lachlan gasped with the force of the recoil, his first shot going wide of the mark and leaving him frustrated.

"Patience Lachlan, you're not used to it, feel the rifle's weight, let it become an extension of your arm, be one with it - "

Again, Lachlan chambered a round and composed himself, feeling his heartbeat slow, before he took a breath and squeezed the trigger - this time it was more controlled and on target, and when they examined the soft wood of the eucalypt, Lachlan was horrified to see it'd punched straight through a three foot thick ghost gum.

"I told you it has some kick - and some power, this isn't some low calibre plaything, this is the real deal!" Owen chuckled, then took the rifle off Lachlan, ejected the spent cartridge and snapped the bolt back and down, locking it into a safety activation.

Rubbing his shoulder, Lachlan nodded and winced, feeling the ache.

"That's enough for now," Owen told him. "Fun is fun, but there's a lot of work yet - both good, hard physical labor and other things you'll need to learn."

"Won't - won't Feredwyn know?" Lachlan sighed.

"She knows, God's know how she knows - " Owen laughed softly. "I never lie to her - in anything - yet your need for vengance, if you're impulsive and careless, you'll be hanging by a gallows before your next foaling day..."

Owen sheathed the rifle in the leather sheath on his back, then turned back towards the farmstead.

"Owen - " Lachlan began, then placed a timid hand on the larger Clydesdale's shoulder. "What aren't you telling me?"

Owen kept walking, then he stopped and sighed, before he stopped and a deep breath.

"I wasn't always a blacksmith, like my sire, and his sire before him and so on - once, I helped out a - well - they were bad people, who did bad things, against people who also did bad things..." Owen sat on a fallen log, then pet it beside him.

Intriqued, Lachlan sat, as Owen rubbed his forehead, then sighed through his nostrils.

"This was about...ten years ago - " Owen began, his voice soft, almost a whisper. "A group of humans I knew, through a friend, of a friend and so on - well - they began to prey upon others...humans and anthropomorphic's alike. I suspect, you've heard of bushrangers and bandits and other such things?"

"Sort of - my education wasn't exactly - well, Clanton would know more about that sort of thing, than I do! Him being Academy trained and so on..."

Owen glanced sideways at Lachlan, then snorted. "I've met more than enough police in my life - there's no way that Kangaroo was trained by any Acadamey...he's barely got enough training to know how to saddle a horse and not shoot himself in the foot with his pistol! Police out our way, they don't get the luxury that say, those in Melborne get...now that lot, they're so full of themselves, so human-centric..."

Lachlan blinked, never realising Clanton, for all his apparent knowledge and skill, had been misleading him. "I never thought - "

Owen laughed weakly. "Oh, don't feel angry with...Clanton did you say? Nice enough name, and a fine looking young Buck - but yeah, Constable's out here, well, they get a crash course, and most of the time, they're the first to be sent into danger as they're classified as expendable. When was the last time you seen the Sargent take charge in a hostile situation? Never? I'm not surprised - the Sargent is a coward, a murderer and - well - his list of charges they'd be able to file against him - "

"He won't live to see a hangman's noose - " Lachlan growled dangerously, his eyes narrowing in anger and loathing.

"Neither will you, if you don't control that anger Colt - I know, you want revenge, but you go charging into town, filled with rage and desire for revenge, you'll only be fighting yourself, and he will murder you in cold blood and not even give you a decent burial. Get that through your head, you're not indestructable - you're young, headstrong, angry - many traits I too was, when I was your age. Wait. Be patient, learn from me, even Clanton, I'm sure, can help you! He will not like the idea of you becoming a murderer - I don't, and Feredwyn will certainly not like it - but you need a code of honor - such was instilled into me, and I'm going to share it with you..."

Lachlan jumped to his hooves, then paced back and forth, his pale golden fingers clenching and unclenching, as the anger fought with common sense, whilst Owen waited patiently, his ears flicking too and fro, as he watched Lachlan's internal war.

"I never said what I'd be teaching you would be easy - or quick, but if it keeps you alive, isn't it worth it?" Owen asked simply, as he used his hooflets to brush through one of the feathers on his left wrist, then did the other, until the long hairs were untangled.

Lachlan snarled, then stormed off into the woods, and with a sigh, Owen watched him go, his ears backswept slightly.

"No one can make you see the path - " He whispered to himself, then stared down at the trampled ground. "You have to see it for yourself...I just pray you do..."

A mottled shadow stepped from the shade beneath a wattle tree, then pale paws encircled Owen's neck and interlaced over his chest, before the dark nose nuzzled the Clydesdale's left cheek.

"It seems a fault with Stallions - " Feredwyn whispered, as she kissed her partners cheek. "They're so hot blooded and headstrong - I remember a young Colt, not much older than Lachlan - who would have gotten himself shot and killed, like those other Bushranger's..."

Owen twisted his head to the side, then smiled lopsidedly at Feredwyn.

"How long were you hiding back there, listening in like a sneaky thief?"

"Long enough my love," Feredwyn smiled, then sat down beside him.

Dressed in a strangely mottled skirt and long robe, Feredwyn had blended into the shadows and been watching for longer than she admitted, but she knew how to meld with the shadows, and her clothing was perfectly coloured and patterned to do just such.

"It never fails to amaze me," Owen admitted, as he placed a arm over Feredwyn's shoulder, then pulled her close. "How you blend in like that. I've known you could do it for years, yet I never knew _how_you do it. A doe shouldn't be able to just step into the bush and vanish like smoke!"

"Years of practice, love - " Feredwyn smiled, then rested her head on her lovers shoulder. "I'm just full of surprises - you think you were the only one with a rough childhood? I was orphaned myself, so I can empathise with Lachlan - except I was young. I had to learn how to lie, cheat and steal - just to feed myself. Of course, I learned to be stealthy and make myself unseen, it's really not that hard!"

"Could have fooled me - between us - " Owen pondered, as he trailed a hooflet lightly across Feredwyn's black cheek stripe. "Think we can help him? I'd hate to see him throw away his life when he has so much to live for! He has friends now, people who will help him, care for him and hopefully - train him..."

"If he is willing to listen, you Stallion's are all alike, strong willed, stubbon to a fault, arrogant and full of your own self importance!" Feredwyn playfully teased.

"You know me too well my love," Owen chuckled, then glanced towards the path where Lachlan had dissapeared. "I just hope he's not like me - I hope..."

*

As days turned to weeks, Clanton slowly recovered under Feredwyn's ministrations, and Lachlan swallowed his pride, and willingly gave himself to Owen and Feredwyn's training. Owen helped him with physical strength training, strapping heavy sacks of sand to Lachlan's back and making him run laps around the clearing, whilst Feredwyn taught Lachlan how to muffle his hoofsteps - often involving a sharp smack with a long willow sapling to the back of the legs if she heard him trying to sneak up on her.

As Clanton convalesced, he lay snuggled up in a rough travois, still weak and sickly, but at least he could be brought outside, as Feredwyn assured him that sunlight would be beneficial and help him heal. Clanton watched with interest as every day, whilst his own illness ravaged body slowly healed, Lachlan grew and grew, his musculature rippling beneath his pale golden coat, as his silvery mane flew behind him as he continued to push himself. Each night, Lachlan could barely stand, so vigorously did he exercise, and it was quickly apparent that he was nearing his physical perfection - that would carry him into adulthood.

Owen had regularly watched, but he dissapeared for hours every day, then returned on sundown and the smell of wood smoke and strange burns scarred his forearms and thighs. Sometimes the scent of leather clung to him, but when Lachlan asked about it, Owen remained gruff and tight lipped. Even Feredwyn didn't know - or if she did, she never told, as she vigorously continued to teach Lachlan everything she knew about stealth, theft and subterfuge.

*

Late one afternoon, Clanton leaned back on his tail, his fur dry and unkempt, but at least he could stand for short time, on his own.

"I don't like this Lachlan - " Clanton coughed and a rattling cough wracked him. "You know my feelings - I used to be a Policeman...you're talking about murdering a - "

Lachlan glared at Clanton, then snorted and turned away.

"Lachlan, I love you like a brother - almost - " Clanton sighed, as he reached out and placed a paw on lachlan's shoulder. "I can not allow you to do this, do you hear me? You're better than this! Yes, you want revenge, I understand that - but murder? You really want to get caught? You _do_know the punishment for murder? It's hanging..."

"Why would you care? Did you watch your mother get murdered in cold blood? You were THERE Clanton - and you done nothing to help..."

Clanton flinched under Lachlan's words, they hit him almost like a physical slap.

"That hurt Lachlan - " Clanton whispered, his eyes widening. "You know I - "

"Hurt? Oh, you don't begin to say you know what I'm going through..." Lachlan snarled, as he rose and began to clench his fists.

"You'd strike a weak, crippled Kangaroo? Is this what your mother would have wanted?" Clanton croaked, then shook his head. "I knew your mother, since I was a joey - you hear me? She was a proud, noble woman! What happened to her, is unforgivable, but she would be horrified, to see her only foal turn to darkness - you're better than this Lachlan, I know you are, please, don't go down this road, as it'll lead to an early grave..."

Lachlan paused mid-step, then his cocked hoof slowly settled to the ground and he froze, his rage barely contained, yet something in the pitying look that Clanton gave him, and the cruel, hurtful words, cut through the rage and smothered it like a bucket of water on a burning fire.

"What...what can I do? I can't let this go unpunished, the Sargent deserves to die - " Lachlan whispered, then the tears began to slide down his cheeks. "I hate him, I hate all the Police, for what they done - "

"I used to be a police officer - " Clanton sighed, then coughed and he clutched his chest, as the wracking cough clawed at him, doubling him over and making him gasp for breath. "Not - all of us - were like him. I tried, God's know I tried - to save her!"

Lachlan sank to his knees, then clutched his head in his paws as he wept unashamedly. Clanton cautiously approached, then wrapped his slender arms around Lachlan's firm neck and pulled him close.

"Revenge can be a powerful force - but if you let your anger and your grief control you, you'll find yourself hanging from a gallows! Wait, be patient! Learn what Owen and Feredwyn can teach you...practice, listen and speak little and your moment will come - first - learn something that was taught to me...it could very well save your life. You want revenge, and justifably so, but do not paint everyone with the same brush." Clanton's voice cracked, and another convulsive coughing fit tore at his weakened lungs.

It was several minutes before Clanton held up a quivering paw then resumed. "Think of your own upbringing - our people are victimised, persecuted - even killed outright in cold blood. They're crying out for a champion, a protector, someone who will stand for them and protect them! I tried, God's know I tried - but I am not physically strong enough, or mentally strong enough to do it - I tried to work within the system, I tried so hard...and I failed. You, on the other paw - you can be the light in the darkness that our people and other good humans are crying out for. Yes, he deserves to die - I do not argue that, there are others who work with him...they are the one's you should target! Do not hurt those who are innocent, do not steal from those who have little to take. I know schedules of the Police stagecoach - I know wealthy landowners, their movements and so on...these are the people you, if you're going to become what I fear most - these are the people you should steal from, never the innocent, or the weak and the helpless..."

"What would I do if I did steal from them?" Lachlan sniffed, glancing at Clanton. "I've already got a death mark on my head..."

"What would you do? You'd help those like us ,those like Owen and Feredwyn - you'd find others you could trust, get them to divide up the money - give it to struggling farmers and poor townsfolk, there is_so_ much you can do, for good, not evil!"

"A Bushranger - " Lachlan began, then trailed off.

"Lies, all of it - there are many who done exactly what I'm proposing - but what do we hear about them? We hear they're cold blooded murderers, thieves, torturers and worse - who tells us, about them? People like the Sargent, the corrupt, the powerful and the wealthy! Sure, some truth exists - of Bushranger's who do such attrocities, to line their own pockets, and those of their ilk...but you can stand against the corrupt and the powerful - you can be what our kind, and some humans would come to call a hero and a champion of the people...you don't have to walk a dark road Lachlan, don't you see?"

"I'd never have imagined - " Lachlan whispered, eyes widening as his mind was opened to possibilites he had never considered. "You really think..."

Owen snorted, as he stepped out of the shadows, then placed his paws on his hips and looked genuinely shocked and impressed. "I'll be damned, a ex-Copper, turned into a philospher and preacher!"

Clanton laughed weakly, then wheezed and clutched his chest, as he began coughing again. Within moments, feredwyn rushed to his side, then she placed her ear against his chest and listened, before frowning and looking down at him, Clanton wiping his muzzle with a old cloth.

"You're still not well enough to sit out here and lecture..." Feredwyn admonished Clanton.

"I'm fine - " Clanton croaked, then smiled weakly and again, dissolved into a wracking cough.

"No, you're not - " Feredwyn snorted, then looked at Lachlan, who crouched and picked up Clanton, cradling him like a child, Clanton's black tipped tail hanging down between Lachlan's strong arms.

"I can walk - " Clanton protested, then wheezed and shuddered.

"Feredwyn's right," Owen snorted, then turned aside, letting Lachlan carry Clanton inside.

Once they had gone, Feredwyn sighed and looked up in Owen's eyes, then she dropped her gaze and shook her head slowly.

"He's not ready - " Feredwyn's whispered, as she rested her left paw on Owen's right forearm. "He has trained well - but he is still greener behind the ears, than the forest that surrounds us!"

"I think he's ready for a trial run, I'll be watching over him, don't worry - " Owen smiled, then kissed the top of Feredwyn's head, then cuddled her close and stroked her back. "First steps are always the hardest - besides, we'll be alright - he seems to have matured in the last few weeks, but we can't keep him sheltered forever - besides...it's almost done..."

"It..." Feredwyn paused, then looked up into her husband's eyes. "You think it'll work? Is it - "

"I learned a lot, from working alongside those humans...I know where we went wrong making it, I'll not making that mistake again..." Owen sighed, then cuddled the Doe close again.

"I hope so...his life will depend on it..." Sighed Feredwyn, as she lovingly cuddled against her strong, masculine husband. "He shall no longer be called Lachlan, if it goes to plan...he will need a name - to cause fear in those deserving of it...and hope and joy in others...he will be called...Ironclad..."