Free Hell Follows After (Monster of the Apocalypse Saga) by C. Henry Martens Page B

had an eye to bigger things.
    Thinking Masters were limited to four wives, Arc’s interest in Jody was strange to Edge. He asked Occam about it.
    “Any man can take as many wives as he can support or will have him.” The big man’s eyes twinkled as he studied the young apprentice’s interest.
    “How is that, sir?” Surprised by the answer, Edge had seen only one man in the Trades with five and did not know the story.
    “A man is allowed only four from within the Territory and those from good family. If he consider a fifth, she must be an outsider.”
    “So the Master Arc can bring home a wife from Reno? It is his option?” The forehead of the young man puckered.
    “Aye, my boy, he can that. The practice be more common in the drayage Trades. They have more opportunity than others, as they are on the road more often. In fact, the man you know at home, the man with five, you well know to be in drayage.”
    Edge looked thoughtful. He considered the information and remembered men had often chided his father for not taking more wives. Edge always considered it a jest, but there was meat on this bone. Now he understood why his father had advised him against fraternizing with foreign girls. He had felt the practice of going outside the community for wives to be questionable, perhaps because it led to greater expense as Edge had originally thought, but now he felt there was a deeper thought process going on as well. He wondered if his father was uncomfortable with the idea of the added power men could get through an extra wife.

Chapter 7
    A couple of the highway overpasses presented a challenge. While most proved good enough to travel across, some were bypassed because of apparent damage that was visible to the eye. If a structure was suspected of weakness, a hitch was unsecured from the wagon at the head of the column and the time taken to lead them on both sides of the elevation. Any construction either visibly failing or proving to be weakened was bypassed on the old exit and entry roads. But some obstacles defied discovery.
    When one of the overpasses of the divided highway proved to be cracked through and split over a foot wide down the middle, the opposite bridge looked much better. There were no side roads to be used, so a hidden soft spot in the median buried the first wagon up to its axles. Two extra hitches, nine span of oxen combined, had to be hooked up to free it. The mud was aggravating and time consuming, as each wagon following had to be attached and released from the extra teams, but eventually the party moved on.
    The second overpass to cause problems was worse. Following the Smithy wagon containing the small forge and heavy anvil and close to the rear of the train, the old, heavy, scrap steel wagon burst a front wheel through the surface and crashed down. The whole frame of the wagon twisted as the wheel wedged itself between rebar and concrete up to its hub and by that twisting created a greater pressure on the wheel. It was like a hydraulic jack had vised the offending part. To make matters worse, the off-side ox closest to the hole pushed a hoof through as the wagon settled.
    Muffy’s first thought was to continue the pull and get the wagon upright. They could place a patch over the hole to get the rear wheel across.
    Riding on the tailgate of the front wagon, smoothing and polishing the never ending metalware production, Edge looked up at the noise.
    Occam’s wife, walking beside the lead team, urged the big beasts forward which put more strain on the wagon, the bridge, and the underlying weakness. The road collapsed suddenly in chunks under the rear span’s back legs. Momentarily, they clung to the road surface with their front hooves gouging for traction, but their own weight dragged them to their doom as they fell through. They twisted in their yokes, eyes wide in terror and tongues extended as they strangled. The team ahead struggled to maintain footing and keep from being pulled into the hole.