The Quick and the Fury, Andrew Scorah [classic books for 13 year olds TXT] 📗

His name was Chihiro Kitagawa, he sat on the bed attached to the wall of the dank room as the man slammed and bolted the cell door. Adam, Isom and he had been bushwhacked outside the town of Darnell, and thirty miles from their destination; New York. A posse of fifteen riders had descended on them from behind a hill. Isom had been brought down by a flurry of blows from the men wielding billy clubs, Adam had been pistol whipped and a lasso had caught Chihiro, pulling him from his horse. Quickly binding them with ropes, the leader, a peppery looking man with slitted eyes and a neat little mustache approached them once they had been secured. He stated they were fugitives wanted for the murder of Jubal Kane, he called Chihiro ‘The Eastern Fury.’They were to be transported to what he called the Roundhouse to await the arrival of circuit judge Josiah Spicer.

The Roundhouse turned out to be a secure stockade consisting of outbuildings within a walled fort and at the center giving it its name was a three story circular building. Chihiro checked out his surroundings, the cell had a bed attached to the wall by chains. The only light came from a square opening in the door and a pot had been placed in the corner, somebody's idea of a toilet. Chihiro cursed himself and wondered why he had not sensed danger. There was nothing he could do to change his situation so he just sat cross legged on the bed; and waited for something to happen.
Time passed differently for Chihiro than it did for other men, he had drifted into a meditative state, when somebody dragged the bolts back and opened the door only a few minutes seemed to have gone by.
“On your feet yellow man, the boss wants to meet you.” Chihiro uncurled from his position on the bed and stepped towards the door. Two men with rifles waited for him, one attached manacles to his hands and feet. The cell was in a corridor lined with other cells similar to his own, one of the men nudged him towards a door at the end.
They stepped out into a courtyard lit by torches and he was propelled towards a crowd of other inmates, he saw Adam and Isom looking dejected at the circumstances they found themselves in. Standing nearby, their guns trained on the crowd, were several guards. The prisoners had assembled in front of a colonial style brick building with a small garden next to the door and flowers in pots hung from the eaves. Chihiro shouldered his way through the crowd till he reached Adam and Isom.
“How are you both?” he whispered.
“Isom fine, take more than them to bring Isom down,” he snorted.
“Yeah me too, so what’s the plan?”
Before he could answer, the door to the house opened and a man stepped out. He was smartly dressed in a three piece suit and a neatly combed goatee adorned his face, his eyes though appeared stern and cruel.
“Gentlemen, welcome to the Roundhouse,” he had an English accent and one Chihiro had not heard before so to him it sounded strange,”I am Governor James Garton, you all call me boss.” He walked up and down surveying them like he was checking out cattle at a market, stopping now and then to check a prisoners teeth or hair.
“We only have one rule here and that is obey any instruction you are given by my overseers, failure to do this or if you do not do it quick enough…punishment will be swift.” He walked along the front line of prisoners then nodded to a nearby Overseer. He stepped forward and pulled one of the prisoners from the line.
“Run to that building and back,” he said, pointing to a small shed like building. The prisoner looked at him then the building and finally down to the shackles which bound his feet. The Overseer slammed the butt of his rifle into the man’s stomach, his knee came up to meet the man’s descending face;knocking him to the ground. He stepped back and resumed his position. They all looked at the unconscious man then back to Governor Garton.
“Punishment is swift my friends…while you are here you will be expected to work and work hard. You will now be taken to mix with the other prisoners,” he signaled to the Overseer who had struck the man earlier,”Overseer Jackson will take you, your shackles will be removed and you will have two hours of association.”
“Move you waste of good air,” he screamed pointing to a large square building near the rear wall of the fort. They all turned as a group and walk shuffled towards the building. Chihiro used the time to study the layout of the fort and where the guards walked. At the front of the Fort, two towers rose either side of the big double gates, armed Overseers looked down on the grounds of the fort. Other Overseers patrolled the walls of the fort while still more patrolled the grounds. Jackson made them all line up at the door and one by one their shackles were removed and they stepped inside.

Chihiro, Adam and Isom found a corner of the room to sit once they stepped inside. The room contained about a hundred men sat at tables or standing in groups all talking quietly. Chihiro was surprised at this. In his country the prisons were filled with the noisy clamor of prison conversations or protests, with no place for solitude. Here they seemed subdued, a feeling of helplessness and fear shrouded the room.
“We gotta get out of here Chi,I’ve heard of Judge Spicer, he hangs for the littlest thing.” Adam’s words intruded on his thoughts, he turned to look at him.
“The odds are against us Steele San, we must be patient and bide our time.”
“Cheerio my dear boy!” He looked around at the sound of the oh so familiar voice and his attention was drawn to a group of men sat at a nearby table. Immediately he recognised the foppish Lord Kingsley Pugh, holding court with five rough looking saddle bums. The normally smart looking Pugh was looking decidedly dog eared,his long tailed dress-coat covered in a patina of dust with rips here and there and his dandy cuffs looked bedraggled. Chihiro walked over to the table watched by Isom and Adam.
“How in hades have you ended up here, Cheerio? I was just regaling my new friends here with tales of our daring do,” he gestured expansively at the men around the table,”And how we took on the dastardly ruffians in Red Bluff.”
“It is a long story, how are you here?”
“Once again, I fell in with the wrong kind of people; in the wrong place at the wrong time so to speak.”
Adam and Isom had joined him at the table and he introduced them.One of the men, a large rawboned individual sneered and spat on the wooden floor.
“Pugh here reckons your a fiery little fighter…don’t look much to me.” The others sniggered, the oldest of the group put a hand on the speakers arm,”Don’t.” The man sat down again. Cheerio, Adam and Isom returned to their corner of the room followed by Kingsley.
“What is the story here Kingsley?” He asked when they all had sat down.
“Governor Garton likes to watch men fight,” he whispered,”If you put up a good show you earn your freedom…eventually;usually in a box.”
“That is why everyone is so subdued?”
“Yes, they are all afraid.Apart from fear of punishment from the Overseers, there is fear of being chosen for the fights.”
Chihiro grunted and was about to speak but was prevented when the door to the room banged open and the Overseer Jackson announced it was time to go to their cells. All the prisoners lined up and approached the door in single file, AS Chihiro and his friends approached the doorway, Jackson stopped them.
“Not you three, wait over there,” he pointed to a table before waving Kingsley through.
Ten minutes passed until the last prisoner exited the building. Overseer Jackson closed the door and left them alone.
“I don’t like this Chi,” Steele said.
“I have a feeling we are being singled out for special treatment,” Chihiro said as he sat on one of the chairs, Isom nodded in agreement and cracked his rock sized knuckles.

Text: Andy Scorah
Publication Date: 05-07-2012

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