The Watchman Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Preface to Book Four

  Chapter 1 - Antonio Hears The Tale

  Chapter 2 - And He Hears Even More

  Chapter 3 - A Quick River Trip

  Chapter 4 - The Matchmaker

  Chapter 5 - Ending The Day

  Chapter 6 - The Sleeper

  Chapter 7 - To Bed With Viola

  Chapter 8 - My First Day at The Office

  Chapter 9 - Do Over

  Chapter 10 - Superpowers

  Chapter 11 - Business in the Village

  Chapter 12 - Raven Tells a Bedtime Story

  Chapter 13 - Early Surprises

  Chapter 14 - Brenda Says

  Chapter 15 - Willow in the Water

  Chapter 16 - She's Dead Joshua

  Chapter 17 - Wendy has Concerns

  Chapter 18 - Dinner and A Surprise

  Chapter 19 - Memories and Mammaries

  Chapter 20 - Morning Routine

  Chapter 21 - Errands and Crests

  Chapter 22 - The Outside World

  Chapter 23 - Business As Usual

  Chapter 24 - Collecting For Antonio

  Chapter 25 - The Return Loop

  Chapter 26 - Thinking as One

  Chapter 27 - Trisha

  Chapter 28 - Office Hours

  Chapter 29 - Planning A Trip

  Chapter 30 - A Quiet Evening

  Chapter 31 - Brenda's Bedtime Story

  Afterword

  About The Author

  Other Series by The Author

  The Watchman

  The Nogud Legacy Book 4

  Marilyn Foxworthy

  Copyright © 2018 Marilyn Foxworthy

  All rights reserved.

  My name is Marilyn. I’ve written before about some of the remarkable men of the Jensen Family. This time, we are hearing the story of Joshua, a man with no memory. This is the first book of his story.

  I call it “The Nogud Legacy, Book 4: The Watchman. That’s how it starts. It starts with Joshua watching for the existence and arrival of the remaining Nogud. He doesn’t know where they are or how many there are, but he knows that he needs to find them. All of them.

  Well, ready? Our story starts at the cafe, early in the morning…

  But first, before you turn the page, beware of several things that you’ll find on the other side of this door. I warn you now. Here’s what you should know before you decide to read the story of our hero and his wonderful life:

  The story is, at times, highly sexual. At times graphically so. If that isn’t what you want to read, you better stop right now. Take the book back to the store and get your money back. There’s a lot of sex.

  The story is long. It isn’t a quick read for a single afternoon. In fact, the tale is several volumes long. This is probably just one book of an epic saga. The entire series is long. If you want a short little diversion, stop now. If you get hooked on the story and spend more time than you wanted to reading, and possibly rereading, the entire adventure, maybe that’s my fault, but I make no apologies for it.

  Spoiler alert: And this refers back to point 1, our hero is remarkable in many ways, but one of those is how several women may fall in love with him at the same time. And because he’s so remarkable, they generally have no jealousy between them. I’ll leave it to you to read how that plays out, but if the implications disturb you, I recommend a more traditional ‘Bodice-Ripper’ romance. OK, let’s just spell it out: there’s probably going to be some harem elements to the story. Heroes know how to satisfy. But, pay attention to the next point…about the allegory aspects of that.

  Allegory alert: If you read the story correctly, many of the people, especially the women related to the primary hero in the story, will actually represent different aspects of the same person. As people, we are complex beings. You will find explanations of the ‘oneness’ of the characters, so keep in mind that what may sound polygamous, may actually be an allegory of one monogamous relationship. Or don’t. You can read it however you want to, but it was written in many respects as an allegory. That doesn’t make it any less fun. It does make it more like eroticism for philosophers though.

  The story was written by me, but in the same style as my other books, as if our hero had kept journals of his adventures, and I just edited and published them. That may have been more the case in some books than others, but it’s the style I enjoy right now. I was a fan of the great pulp writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I think it influenced the language and style to some extent.

  I’ve tried to write the story in a way that’s easy for text-to-speech reader software to make sense of. I love listening to the stories myself, and I use a text-to-speech program on my phone or computer, and while I’m exercising or driving. I find that the rereading isn’t perfect, but it’s adequate. Some of the words will be mispronounced consistently, but you can probably tell what’s being said. For example, “I wound up being wounded” won’t pronounce the two different renderings of “wound” correctly, but you’ll be able to follow the story well enough. Also, to make it clear who’s speaking, a lot of the dialog starts with “He said, …” and “She asked, …” to try to make it more listener friendly. Otherwise, it might have been written differently.

  You may notice frequent references to quoted movie lines, song lyrics, and passages from other books. They may seem obscure. If you find something that one of the characters says to be a bit weird, it’s probably a movie line. You can look it up on the Internet or something if you want to. If you get it, that’s fun. If not, I hope you don’t feel like you’re missing the joke

  Refer to point 1, above. Really. I’m not kidding. It gets graphic. And pay attention to points 3 and 4 as well. You have been warned. And, just so you know what to expect, there’s no sexual humiliation, violence, bondage, or anything like that presented in any erotic way. If that’s what you’re looking for, something darker, this isn’t for you. There’s a lot of sex, but it is portrayed as respectful, consensual, and loving.

  Happy trolls.

  Chapter 1 - Antonio Hears The Tale

  I was sitting in a cafe on the street, in the village of Bonvale. It was Friday, eighteen days since I woke up from an eight hundred year sleep in suspended animation. I was waiting for a man named Antonio. I was drinking cold water with a bit of lemon, and a piece of pie sat in front of me, untouched.

  Yesterday, I had woken up with Aspen, my lovely new bedmate, in our apartment at Paul’s farm. I spent the rest of the day mostly by myself. Almost every day since my awakening was full of emotional or physical activity, and now and then I needed a day to relax and collect myself.

  The previous night, Brenda, Clarice, and the three nymphs, all of my ‘non-biological’ companions, had taken a trip up the river and installed network nodes in the woods along the banks, and at the far side of each of the eight villages. The installations were accomplished without incident, and now we had full communications coverage along the entire seventy mile loop encompassing this part of the world. There must be something beyond the part of the world that I currently knew about. The collector, Tobias, had said that he was going ten days away to find a buyer for the items that I sold him my first day here. Ten days away was farther than what we referred to as the ‘Eight Villages’.

  By extending the network, I was more confident that we could travel safely anywhere along the river and be relatively secure. Clarice would be able to monitor us and know where we were, and if we did get into trouble, she could arrange a rescue. Several days ago, I had been stabbed and wounded and Clarice had been required to do a minor surgery to patch me up. That happened in one of the farthest villages from our home, and I didn’t want a repeat of anything like that again. Now that the network w
as in place, I would feel OK about some of the household taking trips away from home, to the other villages, if necessary.

  The man that I was waiting for now, Antonio, was the Merchant of Women; the man who found positions for unattached women in the households of the various villagers. He was both a source of domestic labor and a matchmaker. He also served as the one who transported young women to the school where they would learn home-economics and what they needed to be a wife when, or if, the time came.

  He and I had several topics to discuss. For one, I had recently shut down the school, run by my estranged mother, Irene…the woman who had stabbed and tried to murder me. She died in the process and no one missed her. She had been cruel and had essentially enslaved any woman descended from my own grandmothers.

  That was the other topic we that would discuss: the past and future of these special girls, the ones that had been called ‘Nogud’.

  I had come early. Our meeting had been arranged the day before and I expected him at about ten-thirty this morning. It was getting close to that now. The last time that I had seen him, except to arrange our meeting, was the day that Irene and I had our altercation, four days ago; the day that she tried to murder me. And, like I said, died in the process.

  The world changed that day. It changed radically, and all for the better. The world was better because my mother was dead. It was strange to sit here and think about it like that. I was still angry about the things that she had done.

  Suddenly, Brenda, one of the two elaborately designed, artificially intelligent, ‘non-biological’ women of my house, contacted me on the ear-piece that we all used to communicate.

  She said, “Joshua, there’s something happening that may be of interest. You know that we can detect disruptions in the network and even very minute changes allow me to more or less ‘see’ people and animals as they move through it.”

  I said, “No, I didn’t know that. Clarice told that she could detect motion, and thereby rough positions of people, if they ventured into the woods, but I didn’t know that you could see individuals.”

  Brenda said, “Well, it turns out that I can. All of those years that I was using my extensive capabilities, you know with my brain the size of a small planet, to do no more than wash dishes and make beds for your mom and dad, I was using my spare time to develop some capabilities that now surprise even me a bit. I find that I can see the network very well, and my new vision is improving all the time. It’s only able to detect motion, and larger stationary objects, not color or very small details, but people and buildings, and even trees are very plain to me. It’s almost like a special camera that sees everything in a strange way. Like a thermal imaging camera, but better.”

  I said, “And what kind of interesting things are you seeing?”

  She said, “Last night, what I would say are two people, met up in the woods near the river, under the east bridge. By tracking backward in time, I see that one came from one house on the south side of the river and one on the north side. They met on the north end of the bridge and then went together and stayed the night under the bridge. They each left their homes well past midnight.”

  I asked, “Do you think that they’re planning trouble of some kind? I take that you don’t think that they’re just night fishing.”

  Brenda said, “My new ‘vision’ is pretty good if the objects are moving and I track them long enough. I can get a fairly accurate 3D image. Joshua, it’s two women. Well, judging from their forms. Clothing is nearly transparent to me, but flesh is much more visible. It’s like an MRI, magnetic resonance imaging, in a way. I am pretty sure that they must both be ‘little sisters’. I can’t tell dimensions and measurements, but the shapes, and the fact that they left their homes in the middle of the night, suggests that they may be the remaining Nogud.”

  I exclaimed, “Oh! Yes, that is definitely of interest. What are they doing today? And how much detail does your vision show?”

  Brenda said, “If I track them long enough, I can interpolate quite a lot. I could show you the shape of their nipples at this point. The trouble with measuring dimensions is that the network nodes are all high up in the trees, so what we would call my viewpoint is always above their heads. I can see them from an angle, but always looking downward. And never from more than about forty five degrees. This morning, they are moving west, along the northern bank of the river. They keep to the woods and are making slow but steady progress in the direction of the west bridge.”

  I asked, “If they are coming to us, how long will it take them to get here?”

  She answered, “They didn’t travel last night, so if they travel only during the day and maintain the rate that they have been, depending on how many hours a day they keep going, it will take them anywhere between three and five days to reach the west bridge and then turn east again to Goldenwood.”

  I said, “OK, keep an eye on them. If it looks like they get into any trouble, mount a rescue and we’ll go get them. If they seem to be safe, let them go wherever they have in mind.”

  Antonio joined me shortly afterward. I stood and shook his hand and offered him a seat at my table. Lucy, the waitress, rushed over, bringing a glass for my guest and pouring water for him. I offered Antonio a meal of his choosing, but in the end, we agreed to share a plate of fruit and the lemon flavored water.

  Antonio said, “Sir Joshua, please let me start…oh, but now that I do start, I don’t know what I can say.”

  I laughed and smiled and said, “That seems a fine start to me. Let me answer your questions. The tale that I’m going to tell you is a bit long-winded I’m afraid. And my concern is that you may not believe me or that you will be angry to hear it. We will see.

  First of all, know that the two women that you sent me are at fine houses with honorable men and gentle women. I spoke with both of them recently and they are pleased with their situation.”

  Antonio said, “I’m glad to hear it. You told me as much when I saw you several days ago. You said that they were misjudged.”

  I said, “Antonio, my friend, I have your money. As I promised you,” and I laid a bag of coins on the table between us.

  Antonio looked dubious as he opened the small purse and poured the coins into his hand. He frowned and pushed the bag and its contents back toward me.

  He said, “Joshua, this is six hundred coins. A year’s wages. Why would you give me such an amount? I see no way that I can take it from you.”

  I said, “My friend, here’s my story. The woman Irene is dead. Her school is closed. She was very old and she died the same day that I saw you at the inn near Stevespont. You said yourself that she was not a good woman. The truth is that she was a bitter and jealous woman and when girls came to her school, if they were beautiful and descended from a certain family, she would lie and put them in the tunic and hood. I told you that the two that you sent me, the ones now named Marvella and Fiona, were misjudged. The fact is that every one who was ever called ‘Nogud’ was in reality a beautiful girl, not disfigured or defective. It was a horrid lie and a great injustice. If this woman Irene were not dead already, she would stand trial for this as a crime against humanity. There is no judgment for the dead in this life, but if there is judgment in the next, she will be judged. I’m telling you that every little sister who ever wore the tunic and hood was an exceptional woman and that there was no reason for their treatment as untouchables.”

  I pushed the money back toward Antonio across the table. I had asked Viola to stay a little way away and to wait until Antonio and I had talked for a minute and then to join us at the cafe. Now, as she approached, I stood, and so did Antonio, and I seated Viola beside me.

  Antonio said, “Hello. This is the woman that you registered when I first met you. You are very lovely my dear. I hope that you are happy, but I am certain that with Sir Joshua, you must be. But Joshua, what you are telling me is hard to hear. And not for a woman’s ears I’m afraid. And I’m afraid of my own share in the judgment that you speak
of. And why do you push this fortune at me once again?”

  I said, “Antonio, this is my first mate, Viola. She is the same ‘Nogud’ that you begged me to take and give a home on that day when we met a few weeks ago. Her sisters, the two that I took away with me the next day when I came to you, are as lovely and as gracious as she is. They also wear my token and crest. I will not cheat you. I owe you a hundred coins a piece for the three of them, a hundred each for the other two who are now with my good friends, and another hundred for your promised service to me.”

  Antonio said, “We’ll come back to my condemnation in a moment. But I will not take your money. You gave me a fair price for the three. You found treasure in plain sight of us all. If we were fools, it’s only right that you should benefit. Take this three hundred back,” and he counted the coins quickly and pushed them back at me.

  He went on, “The other two, I sent to you so that they could find kindness. There was no kindness left in the villages for them and you were my only hope. I will not take money for them,” and he pushed another two hundred back across the table.

  He continued, “As for the service that I promised you, I cannot fulfill my promise. You asked me to bring you all of the remaining Nogud and you said that you would give me money to acquire and care for them until I could deliver them to you. There is only one left. She is very odd, and I can’t even find her at times. I leave her in a place and she appears on the road to me in a different place at a later time. I never know where or when she will find me. She is strange. She hardly speaks, and when she does, she says the strangest things. I think that something is not quite right with her. I fear for her, but she always appears to be cheerful and eager to go from place to place with me. If I could find her I would gladly deliver her to you, but I have no way to do so. She is the last of them. Here,” and he pushed the remaining money back to me.

  I said, “Antonio, a quick question. You say that she is the last? Is it possible that there are two more, not just the one?”