They were staring at Ripple. Ordinarily, the door opened and shut. Day went in and Day went out. Never a problem. Now though, they couldn’t’ figure out the mechanism all the sudden. Back on the mountain once they’d gotten inside, it had been all over. What they’d seen during the long avalanche had been the interior of their only cart. A single headless skeleton hung from the ceiling on the left side. The bones made a clink against the wall. There had been a few bookshelves on the right side, boxes of stuff, and on the left side various glass containers and strange ingredients like morphine. It smelled like chamomile. But it hadn’t contained what they’d all been thinking it might after they’d learned about her terrible, terrible secret the day before in a graveyard. There had been no hordes of chiropractic powered undead. That had sealed her fate.

  Nobody wanted to have a disgusting chiropractor along. The plan went unsaid, almost unthought about. They’d simply stopped at the nearest town. Asked if she wanted to shop, and claimed they’d be meeting up with her again after they grabbed a few things further along. They had gotten half a day away, but the cart had locked up its wheels and stopped going. Probably an issue with the terrain. Even in the middle of the pathway, they’d gotten reasonably far away from anyone which meant they could express their revulsion without fear of being outcasts themselves. Finally, without a possible hanging audience or two dangerous necromancers, they could speak about what happened instead of troubleshooting the cart. They tried the door twice and now needed a chance to cool off emotionally more than they needed the map to figure their general heading.

  In town, Spoon had slipped away and alerted the guards to their massive threat located in their provincial marketplace. He’d not needed to say much beyond chiropractor and her description. Then they’d put as much distance between themselves and the greatest danger to their lives as they could.

  Spoon pulled at the back latch then shrugged. “We’re defiantly going to leave her, right?”

  Spoon found himself eager to hear the confirmation. He’d been terrified staying the night with her up the hill and then when getting inside the caravan. Then again when leaving her behind. It’d taken a lot of nerve to stand beside the worst of the worst and not go to screaming.

  “Of course, she’s a chiropractor! They do weird and unnatural things. Having one around is insanity itself.” Bodi shivered at his own words. “I’ve seen some things and that’s not one I want to be involved with.”

  Kriti tossed the red off worlder money pouch up and down. “We never needed her.”

  “The horses complained so much about that cart. It must be horse sense telling them that a chiropractors was within our midst. She’s just not safe to be with and it’s completely logical to ditch her with the proper authorities.”

  Nettle grumbled. “She seemed nice enough to me.”

  “Whatever hole raised you had to have told you about chiropractors, though? At least necromancers.”

  “Yes, they did I just. We can’t get this bloody door opened and we’re going to have to take turns moving the cart instead of riding now.”

  “Look,” Laural brought them together, “she’s gone now so can we all freak the fuck out about how messed up it was that she didn’t tell us. Cathartic group scream?”

  Every except Kriti did so.

  “I feel more like losing it now not less.” Nettle admitted. “And I don’t have a map to look at and see if we’re getting closer to our quest goals.”

  Spoon shrugged. “I am not done just losing it. Give me a little time. Necromancy isn’t cool with me and I’m a vampire.”

  “I’m also not ok with it,” agreed Kriti. “Bodies should not reanimate and blab. Time away from her is best. Permanent time.”

  But they wouldn’t get any time.

  #

  Chiropractor sat straight up. They’d captured her after all.

  “How did you all get here?” She was staring at four men who appeared for all intensive purposes to be fine. Perhaps a too clean and shirtless, as their wet shirts were drying by the fire, and all of them scowled at her. They were in a jail

  “We used a spell of leaffall and still nearly got ourselves killed to save you two chuckleheads. Did your parent between them give you an ounce of sense for what could kill a human body?”

  “I lived though,” she countered, inspecting the bars and the bed.

  “Only because Elisa jumped after you and we all decided to try and rescue you. Otherwise, you’d have drowned. Like pretty much anyone or anything would have without a spell to block the power of the last falls.”

  “Why didn’t he let a suspected chiropractor drown?” she demanded. She heard them shouting about her skills earlier while running away.

  “Only Elias knows that. We went down for him. He’s at the doctor, but we figured your kind would make it without help.”

  The majority of the free members in her party must be alright. This town turned against her for no reason, or no reason they’d told her.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “The suspected kind!” She pulled out her fake credentials. “Here look. These are soggy but I have papers proving I’m a normal citizen. It’s a citizen redress number from the King. Because I look so much like another woman who’d out terrorizing people.”

  It was a bluff she could only pull off in towns far away from the King’s men. She handed the wet papers to Elder Barry who inspected them. He walked right back out again of the small square building without thinking too long on the matter. But then he came in and stuck a key in the cell. Behind her, a deputy came up as well, and she told him.

  “Go ahead and lead her out of town. I’ve got work to do. And nobody knows how to get a hanging started hear anyway.”

  “That’s pretty anti-climatic,” she told him.

  “Well, unlike some places you might be used to, all our people here actually care about law and order. When someone becomes a stranger or a friend, we don’t jump straight to conclusions or believe the word of anyone who gets the first story out. It’s pretty common for the loudest voices to be shouting absolutely filth and ridiculousness. But in case, if they’ve not made the accusation before, we typically arrest the stranger to better protect them in the county jail. Especially if the person is known on a wanted necromancy list. Not sure if your pissed a man off at the bar or if they truly mistook you for the day on that wanted notice or just what’s going on there, but everyone pretty much as a whole agrees that you didn’t do anything to keep you in jail over. Other than running away and it’s easier to tell you to leave than prosecute you. You seem a bit odd, but like a stranger that will leave. And your redress number is valid.”

  Her number was it just didn’t belong to her and didn’t she the King’s seal thus on it. Still an effective enough forgery. And she’d not hurt anyone much running away.

  He gave her a curious look. “You didn’t figure it out when we put you in without making sure to remove all dangerous items? Look you might have gotten scared when a bunch of men rushed up to you, but next time give out your number. I’m sure law and order will take over.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve never been to a prison. I just figured you tossed people in here and called it a day.”

  He grimaced. “A lot of people think that. It’s because of so many jokers in the big cities acting like bullies and treating people awfully, as in bad not awe fully. Tossing them in to take bets on the fight or just locking up whomever looks close enough, so they don’t get in trouble with bosses. The system is rotten when the top is rotten, you know? I heard this saying from a foreigner once, a fish rots from the head down. Everyone here is proud of being Fins or Bones.”

  “Fins or Bones?” she asked curiously.

  “Which part of the museum you like more. Some like the bones, some like the fins.” Now she did want to see the place. But there wasn’t much time for it.

  “I’m afraid I wasn’t trying to cause a ruckus but wanted to grab supplies and move on.”

  He shrugged. “Sorry we’re adding to your trip time. I recommend staying the night. It wouldn’t due to leave now. The track isn’t safe at night.”

  “Bandits? Wolves? Large domestic cats?” She was immediately curious. “A nightly curse of a woman who attacks people on the road?”

  He laughed. “Nothing so exciting. The footpath is especially rough on knees and not that wide. You’re likely to get caught in one of the gravel patches and bust an ankle. It does in wheels pretty often as well.”

  “Is it unavoidable?”

  “Only if you go at night, sometimes if you’ve got damage anywhere on your carts. But saying bandits sounds much more exciting. So evil wheel bandit goblins that break the strength of the metal.”

  She sighed. “Where should I go to grab a few medical supplies for these cuts?”

  “We have a place over on the spiny street. You might have noticed the Bones Apothecary. He keeps boarders and will accept short-term stays, better price anyway than the hotel they won’t let you back in after an arrest.”

  The place she’d gotten stuck was called Fin Whale’s Bone, even though it was pretty far inland and nowhere near much other than a river. But that didn’t stop half the place being called the restaurant being called Fin Soup, Bones Apothecary, Whale Inn. It wasn’t a tourist trap style only because clearly much of the town had built this up over time.

  There was a tiny museum called The Whale Museum, which was a big ole ramshackle building absolutely covered with all manner of smalltown secrecy. These were the old men and women who’d grown up there and had chairs and dominoes out playing. They’d be sure to make a greater fuss than a real security guard if anyone caused trouble. And she saw the sharp gleam of intelligence in many of their eyes. They were guarding their town's treasure and keeping an eye out on the smaller streets as well. As any respected elder should. Yet so many got trapped inside their own homes, cursed for being aged in a society that only cares for the perceived value of youth.

  Adville could be a hard place, while the country looked after one another. But the country could be a mean place as well. It all depended on the type of city and the type of smaller town. No one is good based solely on their local.

  She wanted to stay but figured already which way they went. They didn’t have a map and would be running scared from whatever sent the townsfolk after them. Knowing the Ripple and the party, she felt confident she’d find them still stuck at the first major intersection. No doubt looking for the map.

  She didn’t want to steal or “borrow” a horse in a town that actually valued the law but also didn’t think she had time to barter for items. Whomever turned her in might still lurk there intending to harm her.

  Her body hurt, but she’d run long distances before and it would feel safer back with the group.

  She found them sitting forlornly in the dirt. The Ripple unmoving and them all looking like they’d been having a yelling session or two. They looked up with guilt and worry in their eyes. Ah, they felt bad for leaving her behind. Even though there was nothing any of them could have done about it. She’d never traveled with anyone not also a chiropractor. This group just might be ok. They’d not even freaked out at all during her reveal. Very level headed.

  “So you guys were planning to rescuing me, right?” Day considered them from head to toe. Whatever plan had been worked on didn’t get implemented.

  “Uh, yeah.” Spoon tilted his head weirdly. “Wow, I guess she found the right way, guys.”

  “We can chat on the road. I want to get away from there. That town was weird. They just read my paperwork and followed the law. That never happens. They might not be ok. Let’s go. I’ll tell you about it.”

  She crawled up onto her seat. Keeper of the undead. Impossible to get rid of. She tapped the reins and the four set of Quads walked away. The cart undamaged and working just fine. The group behind her got on their horses uneasily. A snubbed chiropractor back in their midst and the only map locked in her hands. None of them had a choice. She’d probably killed everyone in town to get back to them. To face her openly surely meant instant death, so they’d all smiled and pretended because what else could they do? She’d destroy them all if they resisted.