Free Bloodstone by David Gemmell Page B

wise to incur the wrath of the Oath Taker. The black-bearded minister fell silent for a moment, then forced a smile.
    “You seem distraught, Brother,” he said. Heads turned then, among them those of Captain Seth Wheeler and the twelve men of Purity’s Crusaders. Crane drew himself up and ran a slender hand through his long white hair.
    “The forces of the Devil have been turned against us,” he said. “The Lord’s riders have been cut down.”
    There was a gasp from the congregation, and several of the women began to shout out questions concerning the fate of their husbands, brothers, or sons.
    “Silence!” thundered Padlock Wheeler. “Let the Oath Taker speak.”
    “As you all know,” said Crane, “we came upon a band of pagan Wanderers. With them was a demonic force: I recognized the power of Satan instantly. We tried in vain to overcome it. Many are dead. A few of us escaped through the intervention of the Lord. We must have more men! I demand that the Crusaders ride out after these devils!”
    Padlock Wheeler glanced down at his brother, Seth. The captain rose from his seat. He was a tall, slim man with a long face and a dour expression. “Let the women go to their homes,” he said. “We’ll discuss what’s to be done.”
    “Where’s my boy?” screamed a woman, rushing at Crane. “Where is Lemuel?”
    “I fear he perished,” Crane told her, “but he died in the Lord’s work.”
    The woman’s hand snaked out to slash across Crane’s cheek. Two other women grabbed her, hauling her back.
    “Stop this!” thundered Padlock Wheeler. “This is a house of God!” The commotion died instantly. Slowly the women filed from the hall, the men gathering around Crane.
    Seth Wheeler moved forward. “Tell us of this demon,” he ordered Crane.
    “It is in the guise of a man, but it is Satan-inspired. He is a killer. A terrible killer!” Crane shivered. “He cast a spell on me that took all the power I had to overcome.”
    “How many are dead?” asked the Crusader captain.
    “I don’t know. We advanced on two fronts. The killer was waiting in the east and shot down four men: Lassiter, Pope, Carter, and Lowris. Then he rode west and slew … everyone but me. I managed to escape.”
    “You ran?”
    “What else could I do?”
    Seth Wheeler glanced at the men gathered in the hall. There were some twenty in all, plus his twelve Crusaders. “How many Wanderers were there?”
    “Eleven wagons,” Crane told him. “Perhaps thirty people. They must be destroyed. Utterly destroyed!”
    Still on the dais, Padlock Wheeler saw the door at the back of the hall open and a tall man step inside. Dressed in a dust-stained black coat, patched on the left arm, he wore two long guns.
    “Where are the lawmakers of this community?” he said, his voice, though not loud, cutting through the conversation at the center of the hall.
    Crane saw him and screamed. “It’s him! It’s the Devil!” Backing away, the white-haired Oath Taker ducked down behind a line of benches.
    “This is a house of the Lord,” said Padlock Wheeler. “What do you want here?”
    “Justice,” answered the man. “You are sheltering a murderer, a killer of women and children.”
    “He tells it differently,” said Padlock. “He claims you are demon-possessed.”
    The newcomer shook his head. “Twenty miles from here they are burying a woman named Clara. She was pregnant; half her head was shot away. They will bury one of her daughters beside her. The man Crane rode up to the wagons yesterday and demanded to hear Psalm 22. I gave him to understand that I knew it, as indeed I do. But he is an evil man and wasdetermined to murder. So tell me this: How will you judge him?”
    Padlock looked down at where Crane was cowering. The minister felt exultant. All along he had believed Crane to be a dangerous man, and this was an opportunity to bring him down. He would ask Seth for an inquiry, and he had no doubt that the Oath Taker would be shown