Chapter 6: The Soldier and the Sasquatch

Chapter 5 Voting results:
It doesn’t get any closer than this! When will Luke learn to heed Annie’s advice?

49% of readers voted for option A: that Luke should listen to Annie’s advice and stay hidden in the cellar.

51% of readers voted for option B: that Luke should risk being caught by the soldiers and make a break for Hotel Stone where he believes Jack Holley and Charlie are waiting.

***

“The Captain swears he saw him,” said Private Cooper for what Private Argyle was sure to be the hundredth time.

“Ungh,” grunted Argyle in response. Captain March had all of Gladstone in a mad frenzy after claiming to have seen the fugitive, Haggert, in the town square. They had been scouring the streets and buildings of Gladstone for the past hour with nothing to show and Argyle was starting to seriously doubt the dear Captain’s eyesight.

“Yeah, and he also claimed to have seen a Sasquatch during our last field ops,” said Argyle, shaking his head. Chasing two-bit criminals was no job for a soldier. If anybody else had been taken hostage on that train besides the Governor’s daughter, Argyle was sure he’d still be on leave, relaxing in some pub instead of chasing shadows with a moron like Cooper.

“He did see a Sasquatch,” said Cooper pushing a child aside as they trotted down the same street they had just patrolled five minutes earlier. Argyle rolled his eyes as the kid ran crying into a nearby shop. Smooth, Cooper. Way to make the locals feel even more uncomfortable while armed soldiers run through their streets.

At the end of the street they turned down a familiar-looking alley with lines of laundry strung between the crumbling buildings. Cooper stooped to tie the laces on his boot for the tenth time it seemed that evening.

“All right,” said Argyle. “If you have such complete confidence in Captain March’s excellent eyesight, you won’t mind putting your money where your mouth is, will you?”

“Whad’ya have in mind?” said Cooper as he stood up and scratched the side of his head with the barrel of his rifle. Argyle half-hoped the safety was off.

“A little wager. I’ll bet you two weeks pay that Luke Haggert isn’t in Gladstone.”

Cooper continued his scratching as he contemplated the bet. His thought processes were typically slow to start with but add to the equation a bit of math and money and his brain functions practically ground to a halt.

For once Cooper’s dim-wittedness worked to Argyle’s advantage. Before they could shake on the wager a man came sprinting around corner and crashed into Cooper. The two men crumpled into a tangled heap of arms and legs and before Cooper did something stupid as he struggled to free his gun, Argyle smashed the stranger in the back of the head with the butt of his own rifle.

The man went limp at once and Cooper clambered to his feet, breathing heavily. “Never saw a Sasquatch, eh?” he said, pointing at the heap on the ground.

Argyle couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Haggert. Handed to them on a silver platter.

“We got him! We got him!” shouted Cooper in wild delight. “We got h—umph!” The butt of Argyle’s gun cut Cooper’s celebrations short as it sank into his ribs.

“Shut it!” hissed Argyle. “Haggert wasn’t working alone, you idiot! Do you want the rest of his gang to show up?” Argyle looked up and down the alleyway. It appeared to be deserted but he knew better to assume that no one had heard the shouting.

“Let’s get him up,” said Argyle. “We’ll take him the back ways to the trucks.”

Chance
Luke Haggert has been captured by Private Argyle and Private Cooper. Will Cooper’s stupidity be enough to save him? Time will tell.

The Canadian Conservative government delivered its Throne Speech on October 16th. Over the next week there are opportunities for the opposition parties to defeat the government over the throne speech and force an election. Whether or not this happens will determine whether or not Mickey and Annie overheard Cooper’s shouting.

Possibility A: If the government is defeated by the opposition parties between October 22nd and October 24th then Mickey and Annie will have heard Cooper and will come to Luke’s rescue.

Possibility B: If the government is not defeated between October 22nd and October 24th, then Mickey and Annie will not have heard Cooper’s shouting and Luke will be taken prisoner.

Stay tuned next week to find out what happens!