When the body fell from the thin branches of the oak and into the quickly deepening snow, the emaciated dogs, emerging from the woods like wraiths, tore into its soft stomach. It was tied up high on the branches with a long rope that had begun to tear the night before. Two more hanging men lined the road ahead of Nolan as he trotted his horse onwards. He sat upon the saddle with ease. He wore a faded trench coat that covered most of his face, a wide-brimmed leather hat to protect his head. The horse easily carried the small sleeping roll and food items that Nolan had tied to its backside. Passing the last hanging man, the walls of Westwood, spiked and wooden, loomed across the road. He noticed the two redcoats stationed on the wall above the…show more content… “I know I am still new to town, so for those of you that don’t know me, I am the new Constable. You all know Jeb,” he gestured to his left. “ Now on to the matter at hand: Dale Earnhardt is dead. He was killed sometime last night. I won’t get into the details, but...”
As the Constable continued to blather on, Nolan looked towards Jeb who was staring at Nolan. He face was pale and drawn, with dark circles under his eyes. He was looking at Nolan, his eyes slitted in suspicion. Peeling himself away from the crowd, Nolan headed towards Rex’s inn. Jeb followed.
His room in the inn had two windows on opposite sides of the room. One looked out onto the street, where a few villagers hustled from one house to another, heads down. The other window gave him a view over the city walls. A large native encampment sprawled out behind the walled village. Tents, huts, and campfires with roasting animals stretched on for a distance thinning out as they neared closer to the forest. Dozens of men, women, and children, milled around, playing, sharpening tools, and talking. They wore skins on their backs and most wielded spears, with a few rifles. Fur pelts and drying meats lay hanging on racks across the camp. It was the largest group of fur traders Nolan had seen yet, he guessed three hundred. That explains where the hanging men came from, he thought, remembering the dead natives he had
