Dark blue lightning streaked across the clear summer sky above swaying trees buffeted by a gathering wind. Thunder boomed a few seconds later, shaking the tepid humid air. Rain was about to break. Two men, a gangly lad on the verge of adulthood and an old man that could be his grandpa, were lying prone in the grass behind a clump of huckleberry bushes. At the sound, the young man flinched instinctively and almost gasped. An old grizzled man with a week’s worth of unshaven beard placed a steadying hand on him. “Calm down, youngin’, a little thunder shouldn’t frighten you so,” he whispered. “If you can kill a man, you can deal with the weather.” Then he pointed, “There comes our prize.” The lad peeked and saw two wagons of goods pulled by oxen ambling along the road. A merchant and his wares protected by a hired guard of twenty or so swordsmen on foot. Their shiny armor looked formidable to the young man’s eye …show more content…
“Wait for it, Jon,” the old man replied impatiently. “Over a hundred robberies and none botched thanks to perfect timing. Wait until they’re in range of our archers.” Jon glanced around to see everyone else’s reactions. There were two dozen of them in total including Jon and none of them seemed as anxious as he was. They were all staring intently at the wagon and they have all pulled out their weapons in silence anticipation. A few anxious moments passed by. His heart felt like it was going to burst out with the suspense. His first robbery ever and with this, he would be finally accepted as part of Murphy’s gang. He must have zoned out and missed the signal since the other bandits were dashing towards the road now. “Shit!” he cried to no one in particular. Then he dashed in after them. The chaos had already started with each guard fighting a bandit or two. One guard who was in the back and hasn’t joined in the action yet saw Jon and dashed towards him. A perfect timing for both him and