141

"There it is!" Ante exclaimed on seeing the roof of his grandparent's home appearing behind a small hill. "You see that hill, with the barbed wire and fences and stuff? Well, that is all part of my grandparents' back yard. It's turned into a kind of a show case for Gus's defense installations."
"So he's not just selling guns?" Bjorn asked.
"No. Anything defense related, he's into it."
"Really? You know Gus, then?"
"Yeah. I met him a few weeks back when I was in town with Thomas. We went up here to have a look at the store. And so we got to meet him. He seems like a nice guy."
"But all that barbed wire and stuff does not look too inviting, does it."
"Well, that's why he has it out in his back yard, tucked behind that hill, I guess."
"Yeah, I didn't see any of that when we drove by in Igor's car."
"No. It's all pretty toned down, seen from the street side."

Getting closer to Gus' property, the various exhibits could be seen in more detail. There were several different examples of fences, there were surveillance cameras, and rolls of barbed wire put out here and there. And it was clearly all for show.

Little foot paths, laid out with plenty of gravel, connected the back yard to the dirt path that the two men were following, clearly inviting them to walk in between the installations, almost like an open air museum.

"You want to have a look?" Ante asked as they came across the first of the foot paths leading into Gus' property.
"Sure! Why not?" Bjorn answered. "It's almost like a war museum, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

"Private Property," a sign read, with "Trespassers will be Shot" written in small letters underneath. And was it not for the fact that the sign was placed on the back of a fence, so as to indicate that the threat applied to those venturing out of Gus' property, rather than into it, Bjorn would have hesitated to follow the foot paths further. But as it were, it all seemed quite harmless, despite of its aggressive nature. It also helped that the exhibits were clearly marked, and separated, so as to underscore the fact that the items on display were all for sale and only serving as examples.

"So you think this guy put up the fence around Ane's factory?" Bjorn asked idly.
"He probably did," Ante answered. "Who else would have done it?"
"Good point."

The men strolled around the hill with the fences and barbed wire, reaching the side of the little house that had once belonged to Ante's grand parents.

"Looks like Gus is away," Ante commented on seeing the windows of the house, all behind closed metal shutters.
"Those shutters are also part of what this guy sells, you think?" Bjorn asked.
"Probably is," Ante said with a nod. "He's basically the security installation guy. It's probably not a bad business to be in. Not in a place like this, anyway."

"Well, look at what we have here," Bjorn exclaimed on following one of the foot paths over to the front of the house. "It's the exact same armillary sphere that Frederico has in front of his church."
"It is, isn't it?" Ante agreed. "You see, they are all over the place."
"Yeah, you're right. It's a little occult and spooky, don't you think?"
"Kind of, I guess. But it doesn't bother me."

And it did not bother Bjorn either. Not there and then, anyway. However, some sort of massive propaganda was going on in the village, and although harmless at the moment, he could not quite rid himself of the thought that this could all turn pretty ugly at some point.

"And here we have the guns," Ante said, pointing towards several large posters put up along the street. "They are all to scale, and with the prices displayed under each item. Come check it out!"

Bjorn followed Ante to the posters which were all facing the street.

"So this is how Gus shows off his wares?" Bjorn commented as he turned to the front of the posters.
"Yeah, the house is too far removed from the street to have a very effective store front, so he put up these posters instead."
"That's a pretty smart move."
"It is, isn't it? People can window shop here along the street, and then go in an get the gun they want."
"Or at least have an idea what they might like, before going in to talk to Gus."
"Exactly."
"But Gus isn't here, is he?"
"Nope. Here are the opening hours. He's closed on Sundays."
"Closed and away, by the look of it."