Chapter 588
Jacob had gotten pretty banged up-cuts and bruises everywhere, honestly kind of scary to look at. Thankfully, nothing was too serious, just some scrapes and surface wounds.
She patched Jacob up as best she could, then told Ryan to get him home and let
him rest.
After that, she stood up and strode right over to the mayor of Ivory Town.
“Isaiah, there are rules to living in a community. There’s also basic decency,” she said, her voice clear and steady. “You guys just going around hurting people for no reason. Isn’t that going a bit too far p>
“Our town makes money. That’s our business. We never said we wouldn’t help you. If you can’t keep up, that’s on you. Don’t blame us p>
Isaiah’s face tightened, his jaw set in an ugly scowl. He glanced at Calliope and Silas. He could tell neither of them were people to mess with. Ivory Town was outmatched here, and he knew it.
“Oxcreek’s my home,” Calliope continued calmly. “If Ivory Town wants to stir up trouble, you’d better think carefully about the consequences. You start something with us, I’ll pay it back tenfold p>
She turned back to the crowd. “Jacob was hit by Kyle, right?” she asked, her tone almost casual.
A bunch of people started shouting at once.
“Yeah, it was Kyle! And they hit the rest of us too! Maybe we’re not too badly hurt, but they were way out of line p>
“Really?” Calliope said, raising an eyebrow. “Alright, where did you get hit, and who did it? Line up, and we’ll return the favor, blow for blow p>
Isaiah’s eyes went wide with outrage. “You can’t be serious! That’s going too far!” “No, Isaiah,” Calliope replied coolly. “You’re the ones who went too far p>
Just then, Silas’s crew showed up, flanking Calliope.
“Mr. Myers, ma’am, did these people do something to you? What do you need us to do p>
“Round up everyone from Ivory Town who started this,” Calliope said, pointing at the angry group.
“Yes, ma’am p>
The crew immediately got to work, corralling the troublemakers while the folks from Ivory Town shouted and swore, clearly furious.
But Calliope barely reacted. She told the people from Oxcreek, “If they hit you, you hit them back. However many punches you took, give them right back p>
It didn’t take long before the bullies from Ivory Town were left battered and gasping, looking like they’d been through a bar fight gone wrong.
When it was over, Calliope looked around. “Anyone else got a problem?” she asked, voice cold and level.
“You Isaiah stumbled back, suddenly a lot less brave. He was shaking with anger. “Neil, where did you find these people? How dare you treat us like this p>
Neil exhaled, relieved. “You brought this on yourselves. We didn’t start anything. Maybe if you focused on your own community instead of trying to tear us down, you’d be better off p>
“Isaiah,” Calliope said, fixing him with a frosty stare, “you should be
thinking about how to make the
most of the opportunities you’ve got, not wasting your time picking fights p>
She turned to the rest of the crowd from Ivory Town. “Listen up. I’m letting you off easy this time because it’s the first. If it happens again, I won’t go so easy on
you p>
She turned to Neil, her tone
softening. “know I’ll be heading back in a couple days. But if they try anything while I’m gone, you call me. Even I’m not here, I’ve got friends
in town, and they’ll be over ima heartbeat.
And I can come back myself, too. What happens to Oxcreek happens to me. If
anyone tries to mess with us, I won’t just stand by and watch p>
She meant every word, and everyone there knew it.