FLASHed

23. Undeserved

The hanging tree offered little midday shade. Its sparse, leafy clusters would only form at the ends of the branches from which a body swung. It was said that no matter the season, the leaves from a branch would not fall until the bones had dropped to the ground.

San stood on the jolly bench peering at the faces in the crowd. She could see her townsfolk: her friends Lilly and Herman; her sister Fran; Ma and Pa; and Grandma was there too wrapped in her shall. Old Gruff Wilson, the blacksmith, threw a stone that hit her on the shoulder. The hurt brought her back to reality; these were not her folk. Her folk were all long dead, and soon, she would be dead too. She thought back to the time when she and Fran were hunting cordants in the Hevershire Bog. They'd caught the whole group in their cage except one; the little thing had avoided the trap, and all it needed to do was turn and scamper to freedom. Instead, it jumped into the trap with its kin. It knew that the proper place was with its family. She missed Fran and prayed that, on her journey ahead, she would be able to spend just a moment more with her sister, before the Goddess hurried her on to the fiery pits of the underworld where she belonged; she was false and had missed her chance for a good life and a good death. She had no right to be alive. Thankfully death would take her soon.

The cryer rang her bell, "Here 'ye, good people! Today we settle the score with a liar who has claimed the name of one dead by her own hand. Murderer! And a thief! who stole the clothes from her better."

Anger flashed within San, How can they accuse me of the murder of the general? How could they be so stupid? I am a simple town's girl. Let the Goddess deal with them too when the time comes.

"Whore!" The word hit San like the wet mud slung with it. More words and shit followed. They are animals, she thought, although I'm the oneone that stinks like pig.

The noose slipped over her head, and one side dropped over her chest where she could see it. She marvelled at how thin the rope was and wondered how something so light could support her weight without breaking. The hangman pulled her to the side like a goat until she was on the correct spot, then pushed on her back to draw the noose tight until San could hardly breathe. She moved to loosen the loop, but her hands were bound. To the right, a hanging corpse looked at her with dark upside-down eyes; the rope had snapped the neck apart, and the head hung like a sack over its shoulders. But, even the wrong way up, death's grin was still a smile. San smiled back.

The crowd's fracas evaporated, and San knew it was time. A crow cried from somewhere above. The lonely drum was struck,

Brump. Brump ...

"Wait!" The crier called, a moment later a horse at full gallop was heard from afar. Soon, a horseman rode up and stopped behind the crowd.

She recognised the rider instantly, "No!" called San, but the sound that came from her tied throat was not more than a raspy hiss. Do it, her eyes pleaded with the hangman.

"By royal decree, this execution shall stop." the man on the horse called out, his voice firm.

Bastard, you will not stop this! San struggled to the floor of the platform, maybe somehow if she used enough force she could hang herself.

The hangman loosed the tension and kicked her in the ribs. San sat still on her knees.

"Let us see the paperwork then!" the ruddy man snapped over the murmuring crowd.

Jeremy, a knight, dismounted. He was wearing full chain armour without a helm. His fair complexion had reddened from the exertion of the ride. There was an unusually wild look in his eyes. The crowd parted as he moved through with a parchment rolled in his hand.

The knight mounted the platform and handed the scroll over to the hangman. "No seal? This is highly irregular." He unrolled the paper. "Caravan inventory? What's--"

San heard the sword lose its sheath and then a grunt from the man in black. She felt blood splash her face as Jeremy cut the rope above her head.

There was a scream, and the crowd went wild but provided no resistance to a knight of the kingdom.

San was stunned and let her former friend pull her to his horse and then up, over its rump behind the saddle. As they rode off, San cursed her rescuer's name for he had taken from her the only release that one like her could expect.

Now, worse than a prisoner of the underworld, she was lost.

<◕~◕> First published here Nov 30, 2019