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Slaughter At Stringybark Creek

Chapter Fifteen

1. Cederwyn Whitefurr

5thSeptember, 2017,

All Rights Reserved.

It wasn't quick, it wasn't merciful...and as the screams, tears and gagging noises from the crowd attested, it wasn't what some of them wanted... Some reeled away, vomiting and gagging, others wept unashamedly and some stood, stricken deaf, blind and dumb, by the murder - for that is what it was - of the innocent young Colt who took nearly ten minutes to finally stop twitching and convulsing.

In ones and twos, many of the crowd left, sickened and horrified - yet those same people, had been amongst the rage, hatred infused mob that had watched this colt whipped and shamed publicly. Many of them had never seen this side of the Sargent - him standing there, a cruel, amused expression on his face, as he watched with vile pleasure as the colt strangled at the end of the hangman's rope.

*

That night, after sundown, a group of anthropomorphic people cut down the colt, washed his body and paid the funeral director for a casket, before they lit torches and solemnly walked behind the donkey drawn cart, that carried the casket deep into the woods, where they buried the colt on the banks of a waterfall, an elderly Stag, a priest of their religion, delivered a short, sorrowful eulogy, whilst the gathered animals listened on - some wept openly - some, their paws clenched in fists of rage and grief - fought their urges, muzzles wrinkling back in hatred.

"It's not right!" Snarled a Stallion, as he stepped forwards, then the Stag moved away, letting the Stallion give voice to what they all felt.

They all suddenly gasped, as a large, iron clad figure stepped from the woods, the torches reflecting off his golden coat and silvery mane as he ignored them, then walked to the edge of the freshly dug grave and bowed his head.

"You should not have died, for my sake..." Ironclad whispered.

"You!" Shrieked a Kangaroo Doe, as she stepped forwards. "You brought this down on him!"

Ironclad's ears slicked back, as he turned and held his head down, the tears sliding down his muzzle.

"I did not pull the rope, that killed him - " Ironclad whispered, as he stood like a statue, the freshening breeze swishing his mane and tale. "He did not need to die, that is certain! I swore an oath - I failed to live up to that oath, but I promise - his death - no-one's death - of our people - is on my paws! I never once raised a paw against any of our kind! I know the cruelty of that human - I've seen it and felt it first hand!"

"What do you know of it?" Snarled a Wallaby, as he stepped forwards, then walked up to Ironclad, who looked down at him, then crouched so his nose almost touched that of the enraged Wallaby.

"Sargent MacGoven murdered my mother...hung her, just the way he hung that innocent Colt..." Ironclad spoke, his voice quiet, but the steel in it unmistakable, before he rose. "I swear, those responsible, will be dealt with - "

"No court will convict any of them!" One shouted.

"They will side with their own kind!" Others wailed.

Holding up a paw, Ironclad's imposing posture and size brought silence down like a hammer.

"I never said," He spoke, his voice dripping with menace. "They would face trial...no, they will not face justice..for what justice did they show that colt? NONE! I will bestow upon them the justice deserving of their crimes...but I am not a murderer - I will _not_torture them for my own pleasures - they will die, of that I promise, it will be quick - but they _will_know, at whose hands they met their end...now, go, keep this to yourselves. Identify those humans who caught and hurt that Colt - I want their descriptions - I can't read, so don't write them down - if you must, come here and tell me in person! Let the word go forth amongst our people - but _only -_those we trust...I want their faces detailed to me, I want their names, their locations of where they live - everything...for justice will be brought, but not the humans brand of justice...no...they think themselves protected and safe? I'll bring down a vengeance such as the very God's themselves shall fear, on this, I give my word..."

*

When the first human turned up, a single gunshot to the back of his head, his hands bound with crude leather bindings, tensions grew in Stringybark Creek. Clanton's execution was postponed, as more and more, other dead humans began to be found - all bound - all shot once through the back of the head...

*

Days turned to weeks, and slowly but surely, the number of the humans who had captured, imprisoned and tortured the colt reached Ironclad's ears - and as promised - he delivered the justice so deserving upon them...some wept and begged, some spat in his face and some tried to run...but Ironclad's cold, emotionless face betrayed nothing, as he shot each and every one of them dead - leaving their corpses for the scavengers - some were found, and so the tale of the murderous bushranger grew and spread...

*

Constable Kelsie crept through the brush, her ears twitching too and fro, the pistol clutched in her paw as she shivered, hearing the sounds of others as they swore and blundered through the bush, trying to hunt the Bushranger. A bounty of five thousand pounds was posted on his head - alive - or dead. Every man was out searching the bush - some with no more bush-craft experience than knowing it existed, subsequently, getting lost, bitten by venomous snakes, or just vanishing - some with more experience, and even one or two famed bounty hunters - who sought the golden furred palomino, intending to claim the reward.

As she rounded a thicket, a snap of a twig alerted her to danger, and she squealed as a frightened feral kangaroo burst from the underbrush, skidded and fled the other way. Her heart in her throat, Kelsie shuddered and took another step, before she gasped and froze, the pistol falling from her nerveless furred fingers as she felt the icy cold barrel of a rifle pressed to the back of her head. Instinctively, she lifted her paws up over her head, as she felt a hot, moist breath wash over her neck and she began shaking in terror.

"I'm not a murdering horse - " Come the cold voice behind her. "I do not kill in cold blood, unless those are deserving of it..."

Constable Kelsie thought about screaming for help, but the rifle was pushed further against the back of her head and the idea fled as quickly as it'd come.

"Crouch down, pick up that pistol with two fingers...then hand it by the barrel and pass it back to me..." Come the voice, the icy tone of it sending chills up Kelsie's spine.

Obediently, she done as instructed, and the unseen assailant took the pistol, then holstered it.

"Good, you're obedient...very good - " It spoke.

"You're...him..." Kelsie whispered, eyes wide in terror. "Please don't kill me - "

"You're..." Come the reply, the warmth of the breath ruffling the fine fur of her back-swept ears. "An innocent...yes, you're a Police Horse...but you're innocent, I never harm an innocent - ever - regardless of what you have heard..."

Kelsie wept unashamedly, as she wet herself from fear, the warm urine trickling down her legs and puddling between her hooves. With a snort, the equine who held the rifle on her gasped as he inhaled the scent, then he reached out and laid a golden paw on her left shoulder, then turned her about, as he lowered the rifle.

Kelsie's eyes widened further, showing the white's of the schelera, as her heart thundered in her chest as she found herself nose to chest with Ironclad, the cold iron of his breastplate chilling her sensitive nose. He gently lifted her head, so she was looking into his eyes, then he snorted through his nostrils and she gasped, inhaling his strong musky scent, then involuntarily, she breathed through her own - sharing breath with him - and in that second, a bond of trust was formed between the two equines.

"You..." Kelsie moaned, then timidly lowered her paws.

"Me..." Ironclad whispered, as he stepped back, then un-holstered the pistol, spinning it around and handing it back to her, butt first...a true sign of trust. "Take it..."

Kelsie timidly plucked her pistol from his large paw, then she held it, her paw shaking violently.

"I could - " Kelsie began.

"You_could_ - " Ironclad sighed, as he reached up and cupped her chin with his paw, then stared into her eyes. "Yet you won't...in your heart, you know I'm telling you the truth! I killed those men, yes, I admit it - but they captured, tortured and aided in murdering an innocent colt! What justice was that? None...so I returned that sense of justice...it _is_our right, as you know..."

"We...we must obey the law - " Kelsie whimpered, falling back on the training that had been so forcefully imprinted on her mind.

"Human law!" Ironclad growled, as his eyes narrowed. "Our laws, our ancestral laws, allow for such, you know it, they haven't undone millennia of our kinds instincts and laws, handed down from generation to generation! Humans force their laws on us! Yes, some are beneficial, but most, obviously, do not extend to us, do they? What rights and laws were upheld, when they captured that colt, then...from what I heard...whipped him, then watched him strangle to death at the end of a gallows? What happened to the human belief and law of innocent until proven guilty? He never even received a trial, did he?"

Kelsie backed up, fearful of the rising scent from Ironclad, who followed her, then pinned her against the large iron bark tree, his anger rising quickly.

"Well? Where was your fabled human justice then? There was none, was there?" He hissed, his eyes narrowed to slits as he glared at her.

"I tried..." Kelsie sobbed, her fingers splayed against the bark of the tree.

"I know...little Filly..." Ironclad whispered, his anger draining away like water down a downspout.

"He wants you dead...alive preferably..." Kelsie sniffled, as she shivered with fear.

"Oh, I don't doubt that - " Ironclad spoke, then with surprising grace, he turned away and paced back and forth - if Kelsie had of wanted, she could have drawn leather and shot him - but the sorrow and grief in Ironclad's voice held her immobilised. "He murdered my mother - did you know that? Hung her like he hung that innocent Colt... I swear, I am going to kill him, maybe not today...maybe not tomorrow...."

Kelsie's eyes widened. "He - "

Ironclad spun around, one paw gripping Kelsie by the throat, as he showed his strength and lifted her easily off her hooves, squeezing her throat and making her choke as she clawed at his forearm.

"He murdered her!" Ironclad raged. "he murdered Feredwyn and Owen - two innocent, kind, gentle people..."

"You're hurting me..." Kelsie managed to choke out, as black spots exploded before her eyes.

Ironclad blinked, then released her and Kelsie crumpled to her knees, her fingers clawing at the loamy soil, as she choked and tried to draw breath into her lungs, her nostrils flaring with each breath.

"I'm...sorry - I never meant to hurt you - " Ironclad whispered, and as Kelsie's eyes rolled up to look at him, she saw the tears that slid down the exposed part of his muzzle and dripped off his nostrils.

"How many..." Ironclad spoke, as he stood and his ears snapped forwards, and Kelsie seen the notch missing out of one ear.

"Looking - " Kelsie gasped and wheezed. "All of them I think - our people - are searching, but word of your...oaths, and kindness for the farm holders and that doe you rescued...has spread, quietly, but surely. They think of you as a hero...not as a - "

"A murderer?" Ironclad sighed softly. "I am, I admit it - I'm a thief, a murderer...a monster..."

Kelsie slowly climbed to her hooves, then she placed a quivering paw on Ironclad's left forearm.

"I don't think - you're a murderer...or a monster..." She breathed, then stroked his forearm gently, looking up at him, making him look down at her.

"Over here!" Someone yelled, and there was the sounds of swearing, laughter and snapping branches and twigs.

"I - " Ironclad began, as he was torn between the emotions he never imagined existed - and the fear of being caught.

"Go!" Kelsie squealed, then slapped at his forearm. "They'll kill you, go...get out of here!"

Ironclad shook, his armour jingling, before common sense won out and he vanished like a wraith into the woods, leaving Kelsie panting and shaking...

To Be Continued...