Rud had seen the wagons coming and was dismayed when the second turned off onto a side road at high speed, nearly spilling the passengers. When the first wagon stopped at the dock across the street, and the yelling started, he thought it was just stupid town people's business and none of his.

Even when they overpowered the well-dressed man, Rud still did nothing. He chuckled to himself that the man will not look so refined tomorrow when he wakes up as crew on a keelboat.

When they pulled a woman and two children from the wagon, Rud could not believe his eyes. The woman and young girl screaming while being dragged into a warehouse, the pistol shot into the well-dressed man's head, and now the despair filled eyes of a young boy who Rud knew was about to die came into sharp focus.

Rud's past flooded back from a dark, long-buried place. He heard the echoes of his mother and sister's screams in the screams from this woman and young girl. He saw himself in the young boy, felt the despair and pain again from when his father, mother, and sister were murdered, and no one helped.

Rud's grief had turned to pure hate for those who killed his family and especially for those who promised to help but then refused. Now the same thing was happening to another young boy, but Rud would not be one who refused to act.

Still locked on the little boy's eyes, Rud's right hand reached inside his coat, grabbed one cord of his shepherd's sling, and pulled the sling from around his neck. Rud always had his sling and kept it draped around his neck with the braided cords inside his coat. In one quick, well-practiced motion, the sling was out, and his right thumb slid into the loop end of one cord. The knot on the second cord was trapped between his right thumb and forefinger.

His left hand reached inside the leather pouch, kept handy on his belt, and retrieved a smooth, round pebble. He put the pebble in the sling's pouch. It took four swings before the right velocity was reached, and Rud let the knot slip from his thumb and forefinger, launching the pebble towards its target. Rud caught a glimpse of a dark pebble with a flash of white as it traveled the distance from the sling's pouch to the captain's head.

Rud was already moving as the pebble struck the captain, penetrating his skull and killing him instantly. The dead captain tumbled forward over the boy and into the river beside the body of the well-dressed man.

Knife out, Rud quickly covered the distance to the other captains who, with no stomach for watching the boy shot, were walking back to their boats. The captains turned, surprised at the heavy splash of the dead captain falling into the river. They saw Rud only seconds before his knife pierced the closest captain's rib cage.

Rud crashed into them. The combined weight of Rud and the stuck captain, knocking them all to the ground. The two living captains were pinned under the weight as Rud quickly raised his knife over each of them. Their eyes were wide with disbelief as Rud plunged his large knife first into one and then the other.

The boy was still on his knees when Rud scooped him up and dropped him in the cart. The boy cried out, "Mother, Patience!" and pointed out where the woman and young girl had been taken. Rud briefly thought to take the boy and run but found his feet already moving towards the warehouse. He heard muffled screams inside as he got closer.

* * * *

When the two men dragged Patience into the warehouse and started ripping her dress, Patience knew what they were planning to do and was paralyzed with fear. She was jarred back to reality by her mother's angry screams. She looked at her mother, who was fighting back against the three men who had pulled her from the wagon.

The anger in her mother's eyes shocked Patience as she had never seen anything but love and kindness in those eyes. The ferocity with which her mother was fighting back made Patience ashamed not to be fighting as well.

One of the men attacking Patience told the other, "this one is not going to put up much of a fight. I will be right back," as he turned to help his three companions subdue the mother. The man still attacking Patience had grown frustrated, not making any progress removing Patience's dress. The sheer outer covering was made of very delicate fabric and came apart easily in his hand. But the body of her dress was much more difficult to rip. Her attacker turned her away from him and attempted to undo the dress where it was buttoned in the back.

As the man struggled to undo the buttons, Patience finally acted. She swung her elbow back, catching the man just below the chin. When he released her and put his hands to his neck, Patience elbowed him a few more times, each blow harder than the previous.

Patience turned and kneed him in the groin. As the man fell to the floor, Patience turned back to her mother, who was losing her struggle with the addition of the fourth attacker. Patience's eyes met her mother's. Her mother screamed, "Patience, RUN!" as she renewed her fight against the four men.

Patience ran towards the door and once through looked back to see her attacker on his feet, giving chase. As she looked again in the direction she was running, she saw a large, rough-looking man in a dark coat. Patience caught a glimpse of a fist then felt a sharp pain in her jaw. A black curtain seemed to close, covering her eyes as she fell to the ground, unconscious.

* * * *

As Rud approached the warehouse, the door burst open, and the young girl ran out screaming, her fine clothes torn and ripped. Rud would have no time to chase her. With his left fist, he punched her as she ran by.

The man chasing after Patience smiled when he saw her on the ground, but his smile disappeared as Rud stuck his knife squarely in the center of the man's chest. The man fell just short of Patience with Rud's knife still in him. Rud pulled the woodsman's hatchet from his belt and stepped into the warehouse. He hears a man say, "I have had enough," then saw the flash and heard the boom of a pistol being discharged.

Rud sees the woman, who had been fighting for her life, drop to the floor dead with four men standing over her. Not knowing what had transpired outside and in the dim light of the warehouse, the men inside think Rud is one of them and start laughing at the woman on the floor.

Rud moved slowly towards the four men, and when he was close enough for the hatchet, Rud suddenly attacked. The first chop of his razor sharp hatchet nearly cut off the closest man's arm. As quickly as he could, Rud swung his hatchet again, coming down on another man's head. The man was staring in disbelief at the blood spurting from the first man's nearly severed arm and never saw the hatchet that parted his head.

The other men turned to run, one right by Rud, who grabbed the third man by the hair, holding him in place. As the fourth man ran by, Rud swung his hatchet in a wide arc, sinking the blade deep between the shoulder blades of the fourth man's back. Rud released the hair of the third man, who just closed his eyes and waited to be killed. He would not wait long.

Rud looked at the woman on the floor and was surprised to see her still alive. He kneeled and took her hand in his. The woman looked at Rud, her eyes pleading with him for help. Rud knew her wound was fatal, and there was nothing he could do.

Rud thought of his mother. Even after seven years, the image of his mother being killed was still fresh on his mind. He bent down close to the woman's face and said, "I will keep your children safe," hoping to provide some comfort in her last moments.

The woman nodded, laid her head back, and closed her eyes. Rud felt her hand go limp as the breath left her body. He would do everything he could to keep that promise.

As Rud turned to leave, he used the blunt side of his hatchet to cave in the skull of the first man, who was still in shock and attempting to somehow reconnect his nearly severed arm.

* * * * *

Rud ran out of the warehouse, pulled his knife from the dead man, and picked up the unconscious young girl. When Rud got to his cart, he laid her down then rolled her in the large furs he did not sell.

They were still deep inside the town, and Rud knew he could not fight his way out. The furs would both conceal the girl and hopefully restrain her when she regained consciousness. Rud carefully placed Patience between several sacks of grain in the back of his cart.

He quickly picked up his new coat, vest, and the silly bag of seeds from where he had dropped them on the walkway. Rud put the new coat around the boy and set him up on the driver's bench. Rud untied the mule, and as he put his foot on the step, he saw the shopkeeper's daughter in the window. She was excitedly waving for Rud to leave and mouthing the word "hurry." The shopkeeper's daughter quickly looked up and down the street as if expecting more men to come.

Rud wasted no time. He pulled himself up on the driver's bench and flipped the reins. His mule, unsettled by all the violence, headed away at a near gallop. Rud had his hands full trying to rein in the mule and keep the boy steady beside him.