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Jacob Holland was having, all things considered, a very good day. He loved the small cabin he shared with Maisie, the garden they were growing together, and his modest fishing boat, but he couldn’t deny that he missed the camaraderie that came with a ship’s crew.
So when his old friend Sarah Sharpe, freshly on shore leave from her new job as security on a trading vessel, offered to watch Maisie for the day and allow Jacob some time for himself in town, he had taken the offer gratefully. Everyone was pleased with the arrangement, in fact- Sarah always returned with stories that Maisie loved to hear, and Jacob knew that Sarah enjoyed the break in routine, the quiet cabin away from the politics and decorum of work.
But night was falling, now, and it was time for Jacob to return home, to put Maisie to bed and take his own time catching up with Sarah. Taking a final swig of his drink, wishing his friends a hearty goodnight, Jacob stepped out into the brisk late fall air and began the walk home.
It was a beautiful night- quiet and dark, the moon only a sliver in the sky above him, the sun’s last lingering lays disappearing below the horizon. Jacob breathed in and felt at peace, picturing Maisie and Sarah waiting for him back home.
In a sudden moment, though, he was no longer alone.
He was at the edge of town, just reaching the start of the long and winding road that led out to the cabin, when several dark figures stepped out of the shadows around him, emerging from doorways, from alleys, from behind trees. He counted five, at first, and then a quick glance showed two more following behind.
Jacob slowed, putting on his friendliest smile. “Lovely night, isn’t it?” he asked, coming to a stop in the middle of the road.
“No,” said one of the figures, stepping out in front of him, the barest hints of starlight reflecting on his hair. “Not to us, it ain’t.”
“Right,” Jacob agreed easily, keeping his voice calm. He had diffused more than one argument in the past, and hoped he could do the same here- he could fight, if he had to, but he didn’t like his odds. Not with seven against him. “Is there… something I can do for you folks?”
“Do you realize what you did?” the same man asked, and Jacob had the feeling he was the leader of this crew. “You and that girl of yours.”
At that, Jacob’s body tensed up. Not Maisie, he thought. You stay away from Maisie.
The leader gestured to the group, arms spread wide. “All of us here, we were hunters. And there was danger in it, sure, but it was a job. A good job. And with one little speech, you take all of that away.”
“Ain’t easy finding new work,” added another voice, and Jacob turned his head to see a scowling woman to his left. “Turns out the world don’t need that many sailors.”
“I’m sorry, friends,” Jacob said, slowly raising both of his arms up, trying to placate them. “I know it’s been hard for us all, but you know that what we was doing wasn’t right.”
“See, now, that’s the other problem,” said the leader, and as he took another step closer, Jacob noticed that his gait was a little uneven, and his eyes drifted down to see that the man had a wooden leg, like Sarah, but more roughly made, not quite even with his other leg. “One of them beasts took my leg,” he snarled, and then started gesturing to the others around him. “Vic, there, she lost her wife a couple years back. Sasha lost an arm, and both of Jack’s parents died when he was only a boy.” He slowly shook his head, and around them, each figure stepped a little closer. “And you want us to leave them beasts alone?”
Jacob stood his ground. He had known, when he and Maisie stood up and defended Red and her kind, when Maisie revealed the lies of the Kings and Queens of old, that there would be pushback, people who didn’t believe them. But that didn’t make it any easier, being confronted with it. “I’ve lost too,” Jacob admitted, looking around at them all, trying to catch their eyes. “My parents raised me on a ship, and it was a miracle that Captain Crow pulled me from the water, the only survivor. But they’ve lost, too. If you could see them, the refuges they’ve made for themselves, all to get away from us.”
“I’m sick of this blabbering from a man who values the life of a beast the same as that of a man,” hissed the woman to his left. “We didn’t come here to talk.”
“You’re right, as always, Vic,” said the leader, and then he cracked his knuckles, and all hell broke loose.
Jacob had fought in his share of tavern brawls, but that was nothing compared to this. This was seven people, fueled by rage, coming at him at once. He didn’t stand a chance, and he knew it. But he thought about Maisie, at home with Sarah and Blue, and he knew that he had to try. So he fought like hell, ducking and swinging and stepping, pushing through the pain of an elbow in his side, a fist to his nose, blinking away the blood from a cut on his temple. But then one of them got a hit on the back of his head, hard, and he stumbled. And that was all it took- one hard shove, and he was face down on the dirt.
And then the boots.
Blows to his side, to his head, to every part of him, and all Jacob could do was curl into a ball and pray that they would give up before killing him. His vision was fading, consciousness slipping away, and he knew that they could, if they wanted to.
But then a voice rang out, sharp and strong, and Jacob knew he should recognize it, but he was too far gone, and the voice followed him into darkness.
“He should be back by now.”
Sarah Sharpe sighed, putting aside the book she had been flipping through, looking up towards the source of the voice. As expected, Maisie Brumble-Holland stood at the window, looking out into the darkness with both arms resting on the sill, Blue perched on her head. “He don’t get many chances to be out and about,” Sarah said. “Probably taking advantage, is all.”
“But he promised to be back by the time I went to bed,” Maisie insisted, turning to look at her. “And you haven’t said it, but I know that’s soon.”
It was, and truth be told, Sarah knew that Maisie was right. It had been an easy thing, agreeing to look after Maisie for the evening, but she also knew how much Jacob loved her, and if he had made that promise, it wouldn’t be easily broken.
“I’m just worried,” the girl said, taking Blue off of her head and holding him, the way she did when she was nervous. “What if something happened?”
Letting out another sigh, Sarah pushed herself up and walked over to Maisie, putting a hand on the girl’s head and looking down at her. “If I go find out what’s taking him,” she said, voice hard, “you have to swear to me that you’ll stay here. Understood?”
Maisie nodded quickly. “Cross my heart,” she said, and Sarah saw no sign of deception in her eyes.
Sarah nodded once. “I’ll be back soon with your pa,” she said, stepping back from Maisie and towards the door, checking her gun, her sword, the knife in her belt and the other in her boot, just in case.
“Sarah?” Maisie said, right as she reached the door, and Sarah turned back to look, seeing the girl and Blue both watching her, both wearing matching expressions. “Thank you.”
Not bothering to answer, letting her silent nod and the hardness in her eyes do the talking, Sarah opened the door and stepped into the night.
The walk to town was easy, but Sarah spent the time on edge, hoping that at any moment Jacob would step out from the next bend and laugh at her for worrying.
But the road was dark, and silent, and empty.
As she got closer to town, she heard the fight before she saw it, and quickened her pace, only to come up short, blood running cold, all thoughts of Jacob fleeing from her mind in a moment. Because what she had heard wasn’t a fight, it was a beating. Several figures, indistinct in the darkness, gathered around a figure curled up on the ground, almost completely concealed by the mass around them, raining down blows with fists and boots. There was no honor in this, in what had to have been an ambush, and Sarah let the fury drip like ice into her veins.
“Get away,” she snarled, and she didn’t remember drawing her pistol, but it was in her hand nonetheless.
It was almost laughable, how easy it was. All it took was one figure to turn, eyes going wide at the sight of her weapon leveled in his direction, and the whole group scattered like rats. Sarah watched them go, making sure none were stupid enough to stay before holstering the gun and stepping closer to the figure in the dirt, and only then did her breath catch and her mission come back to her.
Jacob.
For the figure, bloody and bruised and blessedly unconscious, could be no one else.
She wished, for a moment, that one of them had stayed, that she had a chance to show what happened to those who attacked one of hers, but she knew, kneeling down next to Jacob, that she didn’t need that distraction right now. As carefully as she could, Sarah lifted Jacob into her arms and strode further into town, slamming open the door to the tavern.
“Listen up,” she hollered. “I need a healer, and I need someone with a horse and cart. Now.”
One woman, sitting at the bar, stood up quickly. “I have a cart,” she said, and her voice was soft, but carried through the dead silence of the room. “I can take you to the healer.”
Sarah nodded once, and then turned and stepped out, trusting that the woman would follow her.
“Wait here,” she said, and Sarah could see the flash of recognition in her eyes as she looked at Jacob. “I’ll be quick with the cart.”
The woman was true to her word, and returned quickly with a horse and cart.
“We’ll need to go to his with the healer, if they’re willing,” Sarah said, stepping in carefully, Jacob still in her arms. “His daughter is waiting back home.”
The tension lines around the woman’s eyes deepened. “Yes, Maisie, I know the lass. You think it’s alright for her to see him like this?”
“Even worse to leave her waiting there with no idea what’s happened to her pa.”
The driver conceded the point with a tilt of her head, already urging the horses forward while Sarah held Jacob steady. He was still unconscious, and Sarah thanked whatever gods might exist for that fact. They made it to the healer’s quickly, and the driver hopped out of the cart, calling back to Sarah as she went, “Wait here, I’ll bring him out.”
Only a moment later, she emerged, a stout older man hurrying in her footsteps, carrying a small black bag with him. “I don’t make house calls,” the man said, clambering into the cart beside Sarah, “but when I heard it was young Jacob Holland himself, well, I had to make an exception. Quickly now, Helene. I’ll check him now, but don’t want to do much until he’s on solid ground. And you, miss, keep hold of him. Don’t want him jostling about.”
Sarah nodded, and the driver set off for Jacob and Maisie’s cabin.
Jacob woke slowly, sensation coming back to him in bits and pieces. Something wrapped around his head, soft blankets against his skin, a warmth pressed to his side. And the pain, everywhere the pain. He groaned as the pain hit, and the warmth at his side shifted.
“Pa?” asked a voice, soft and scared, and oh, he knew that voice.
He blinked his eyes open, and the world slowly came into focus. And there, filling most of his vision, was Maisie, looking down at him with clear worry on her face. “Hey, kid,” he said, and his voice was scratchy with disuse, but some of the worry dissipated and some of her usual smile returned.
“Sarah said I shouldn’t be hugging you yet,” she said, “so just pretend, okay?”
Jacob smiled back. “Thank you for the hug, Maisie,” he said, which made her smile just a little bit bigger. “Wait, Sarah is… still here? Thought she had to go on her next voyage?”
“And leave you two alone?” came a voice, and Jacob, startled, turned and saw Sarah herself, sitting in a chair by the door to his bedroom. “Not a chance.”
“Sarah’s so good at her job she can leave and go back later,” Maisie whispered, like she was sharing a secret, and Jacob grinned.
“No surprise there,” he said, and Sarah rolled her eyes at them both.
“Pa?” Maisie asked, and when Jacob looked back to her he saw that some of the smile had faded, some of the worry returned. “What… happened?”
Jacob sighed, leaning his head back and looking up at the ceiling, considering. Maisie was young, and he was tempted not to tell her everything, but… but she was strong, too, and valued the truth above all else, and she deserved it from him. “Some people not pleased with what we done,” he admitted, keeping his gaze up. “Hunters who lost their jobs, looking for a place to put their anger.”
“Oh,” Maisie said, soft, and from the corner, Sarah sighed.
“Hey, come on now,” Jacob said, looking back over to Maisie and placing a hand on her head, ruffling her curls. “We did the right thing, and I don’t regret it.”
Maisie nodded, and there were tears in her eyes, but Jacob knew she’d be alright. She wasn’t one to step back from what she believed in, and it was one of the things he loved most about her. It would be hard, maybe, but he’d recover, and so would she.
“Rest,” Sarah said, looking at them both, and Jacob nodded at her, already feeling the darkness creep back in.
“Thank you,” he said, and Sarah nodded back.
With Maisie curled against his side, and Sarah keeping watch over them both, Jacob fell once again into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
They’d be alright.