They were waiting for Brenan

"If that's Dave Lester's horse there" pointed the wounded man at Davy's horse "then we were looking for you. I'm guessing that you are Captain Kilgore." Brenan was instantly suspicious.

"Why were you boys looking for me?" He asked a little sharper than he intended and he saw both the men flinch almost as though he had threatened them.

"Davy said you should be riding back this way, and that you might be looking for some crew." The injured man answered but the other man nodded in eager agreement as soon as he heard the words.

"We w-w-wanted to g-get off th-this sh-sh-sh..." His brother interrupted him before he could finish the thought.

"...shit hole of an island." Not a completely fair assessment of the island with its terraced farms, deep water harbor and busy docks, although considering the pair's recent encounter maybe it was about right after all.

"And Davy wanted to let you know there were some" he paused breifly making sure he got the message right "Dor-weasels floating in the harbor flotsam. If that means anything to you." Sounded like a message Davy might send, not many islanders knew about the vicious predators that lived in the northern forests of Veertor. Once a pack decided on their prey they tracked it mercilessly for days until the quarry either found a way to cover its trail or dropped from exhaustion. Brenan had described empirial agents this way once years ago when they were both serving on the Kranderkill - trust Davy to remember.

Brenan was silent as he helped the wounded man up onto the horses back. The man did not have much of a saddle seat and he swayed as the horse took its first few steps.

"Hold on tight lad. Hey, what are your names anyways?" He asked, they knew who he was so introductions somehow got missed.

"I'm T-t-tyler Jones and this is my brother K-kyle." Tyler offered his hand to Brenan who noticed only the slightest sign of webbing between the fingers as he shook it. Tyler’s grip was firm and he had the calluses all seamen shared from hauling lines and swinging mops. We are both ranked able seamen, and served two years on the Dorian before Captain Oscar got found himself on the wrong side of the wind gauge with the Cryn navy bearing down on him."

"Well then, I'm doubly grateful I stepped in when I did." These must be the crew Davy had mentioned. At the moment Brenan was more worried about the Veer agents in the harbor. He doubted the Veer agents were looking for him specifically, but there was a bounty on the head of any Veer army deserter, and he probably had made a few enemies when he sailed out on the ships that boarded and seized some of the fat Veer merchantmen that sailed along the island chains. Also over the past few years Brenan had taken a simple delight in foiling the intricate plans of the Veertor empire. If the agents were looking for him than he'd best be on his guard.

"Tyler, walk your brother ahead, I want to make sure we aren't being followed." Brenan said softly as they rounded a bend in the coast road. As the two brother's moved ahead Brenan slipped into the bushes and took the time to reload his repeater. The caps in all four rounds would have to be replaced, and the powder and ball replaced as well. It might be a long time before he got back to the man who had sold him the gun and ammunition, but he carefully slipped the spent rounds into his pocket and replaced them with four more shiny brass cartridges. He felt better with the handgun reloaded and sat in silence watching both the Lantian boy's progress and the road that he had just traveled along.

After four or five minutes with no sign of pursuit, Brenan left the blind and jogged steadily after the brothers catching up with them before they crested the next hill.

"Let's get you back to my schooner, and then you can tell me what you did to get those bastards" Brenan tossed his head back in the direction they were moving from "on your bad side."

"Captain we didn't so much as look at them." and then added "Or their girls neither." Brenan suspected that the boys were right, he had seen similar gangs pick on cripples, women and older folks. Anyone who looked different, especially if they looked weak, was fair game for their type. He'd served with men like them both in the Veertor army and as some of the more expendable parts of pirate crews. Pirate ships were notorious for loosing boarders when they closed with their prizes so each time they landed in a new port a dozen or so of the roughest scum had to be pressed into service.

The thought of twenty of those men swinging onto his new ship and the trouble they would cause convinced yet again of the need for some more weapons men to add to his crew. Both Red and he had seen more than their fair share of action, but Cindy was no fighter, and despite their eyes, neither Kyle nor Tyler looked like savage killers.

As they got closer to town, both the men pulled knit caps over their bald heads low enough to cover their misshapen ears and kept their eyes looking down at the ground beneath them.
"Those thugs trashed our best sunglasses" Kyle explained to Brenan, "not only did they make it easier for us to see in the sun, but it kept people from noticing our eyes."

"I don't know where to replace something like in Freeport." Ventured Brenan cautiously "Will you be able to see in the strong daylight without them?" Last thing he needed on his ship were sailors that couldn't see for half the day.

"It's OK c-captain, we g-g-got other p-p-pairs in our r-room." Tyler reassured him, perhaps noticing his worried expression. "B-but those were g-g-good ones."

"Good." Grunted Brenan as he moved ahead of the brothers scanning for possible trouble either in the form of more of the street bullies or even Veertor agents looking for him. "Keep your eyes down but watch for anyone following us."