by Thomas Hall
Kade said nothing.
“His name’s Travis.”
“The bald guy?”
Angelo laughed. It was like grating metal. “Him? Emmett? He’s a flunky, a family man. He don’t have a say in this place.”
“So where’s Travis?”
“He’s around.”
“Around?”
“You don’t want to meet him, trust me.”
“Let’s pretend I do,” Kade said.
Angelo’s smile faltered, he couldn’t tell whether he was being mocked and he wasn’t sure how to reply to Kade. It was possible, Kade thought, that the disgusting man had never met anyone like him before.
“For arguments sake,” Kade said.
“For arguments sake?” Angelo said.
“Where would I find Travis?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do.”
Angelo shook his head but, by now, Kade could tell he was lying. The man had information he needed, and he would give it to him one way or another.
“Where is he Angelo?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“That’s between me and him,” Kade said, thinking about the gun on his leg.
Angelo tried to decide whether it was worth the trouble of arguing with him for another free drink. He decided against, downed the rest of the one he had and then picked his hat up off the bar.
“I need to get home,” Angelo said. “You have a good night stranger.”
Kade watched him go. He disappeared amongst the crowd of people before reaching the door and then he was gone.
He picked up his drink and threw it down his neck, then got up and walked towards the door.
There were enough people in his way that he began to wonder whether this was some plot to keep Angelo safe. He kept pushing and finally made it to the door, before stumbling outside into the dark.
Swift Creek wasn’t quiet.
There were people somewhere in the distance, shouting and laughing. There were lights on in most of the homes, despite the lateness of the hour. He heard gunshots and drew his own weapon.
There was no one close by.
He looked both ways up and down the main strip, but there was no sign of Angelo.
Kade wasn’t sure what he intended to do. Was he going a kill the man on his first night in a new town? That wouldn’t exactly win him any friends. Considering what Angelo had been doing he wasn’t sure they were friends he wanted to have.
Either way, he was restless. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep now and the last thing he wanted to do was sit up all night drinking. He started to walk, thinking that he might stumble upon Angelo along the way.
The stable was at the back of the bar. He could hear Heck amongst the other horses.
“Hey mister?”
Kade turned towards the stranger’s voice. He saw a boy standing beneath one of the streetlights, leg up behind him, alone.
“Me?” Kade said.
“You see anyone else here?”
Kade looked around and shook his head, he was the only one there.
“Come over here a minute,” the boy said. He couldn’t have been older than fifteen.
Kade looked around again, this time to make sure there was no one hiding in the darkness, waiting to jump out at him when he got close to the boy. He’d seen enough honey traps to know that this had all the markings of one. But there was no one there and he was quick with this hands, he walked towards the boy.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” the boy said.
“I’m here now,” Kade said.
The boy sucked his tongue against his teeth and Kade froze.
“Jumpy, aren’t you?” the boy said.
“Who are you?” Kade said.
“That’s not important. Call me a friend.”
“I don’t have friends,” Kade said. It sounded threatening coming from his grizzled mouth.
“I hear you’ve been asking questions,” the boy said, ignoring the comment.
“What’s it to you?”
“A little friendly advice, you don’t want to ask too many questions about Travis. You hear?”
“Why?” Kade said. His fingers twitched a few centimetres from the gun handle, he wanted to draw, but could he point a gun at a child?
“You don’t want to meet him,” the boy said. “Trust me.”
“And if he wants to meet me?”
“Then he’ll find you, won’t he?”
They stood for a moment, looking at one another. The boy didn’t seem like a threat, but it was difficult to be sure anymore.
“Take some advice,” the boy said. “Don’t get involved.”
Kade turned away for the briefest of moments but when he looked back the boy was gone. There was no sign of him ever having been there, and for a moment Kade wondered whether he had been. A dream? A delusion? He didn’t think so.
With a sigh, he turned away from the streetlight and continued to the stables. Most of the horses were asleep but Heck whinnied as he approached. He wondered if it was a sign that they should pack up and leave. There was something rotten at the core of Swift Creek and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to find out what it was.
He stroked the horses nose.
“Couldn’t sleep either huh?” he said.
She nuzzled his hand and they stood together in silence.
CHAPTER 4
THE TAVERN WAS LOUSY WITH PEOPLE. THERE WERE hundreds of them, more than twice as many as had been there the first night of his stay. It was light outside but the piano was playing and men were singing as if they’d been drinking since first light. Kade made his way to the bar where Emmett was serving and nodded at him in acknowledgement.
“Busy day?” Kade said.
Emmett looked at him and shook his head. “You don’t know the half of it. Travis is back in town.”
“I heard,” Kade said. “You throwing him a party?”
“Throwing himself a party more like,” Emmett said. “What are you having?”
“Whiskey,” Kade said.
Emmett slid a glass down the bar and Kade handed over the money. He turned away and looked around, but there was nowhere to sit.
Kade leaned back on the bar. The girls were dancing, flashing at the bawdy men who laughed and shouted for them to continue. Others were moving through the crowd, flirting, trying to get men to buy them drinks, or take them upstairs. There were men playing cards, attempting to ignore them. Others singing, dancing with the girls, throwing darts and arguing.
“Can I get you anything to eat?”
He turned around and saw a woman with a scarred face standing behind the bar. She smiled at him and he smiled back.
“Some food would be good,” Kade said.
“I’ve got burgers on the grill,” she. “You can eat in the kitchen if you want.”
Kade nodded and followed her around the bar. There was a small table with a plate of burgers, bread and beans on.
“Take a seat,” she said.
“Thank you,” Kade said. He sat down and, to his surprise, she sat down opposite him.
“Madeline,” she said.
He looked at her.
“You were wondering what my name was, but you didn’t know how to ask,” she said.
“Kade,” he said.
“Oh I know who you are… Drifter.”
Kade paused for a moment and wondered whether he should say something. He shrugged and started to eat.
“The burgers are good,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said.
She watched him eat and seemed to take pleasure in it.
“How are you enjoying Swift Creek?” she said.
He chewed the meat for longer than it needed, unsure how to respond. Kade didn’t want to insult her, but he wasn’t a man to lie.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Swift Creek’s a cesspool.”
He nodded but continued to chew. “Why don’t you leave?” he said.
She splayed her hands beneath her face and arched her eyebrows at him as if it explained everything. Waves of scars covered her face, but beneath that, she was quite pretty, he thought. “Who’d have me?” she said.
He shook his head. He’d never been good with women, not since his wife.
“I can’t leave,” she said.
“Why not?” Kade said.
She licked her lips and Kade forgot all about his food.
“You get paid for working here, buy a horse and ride out.”
“That what you’re planning to do?” she said.
“Soon enough,” he said.
Her eyes widened a little and some colour flushed her mottled cheeks.
“I’m not made for settling down,” he said.
Madeline seemed startled.
“Is something the matter?” he said.
Madeline looked at him. “There’s something I need to talk to you about and there’s people who’d have my head if they found out and you’re just sitting there like...” she ran out of steam before she could say more.
Kade smiled kindly and waited while she gathered herself.
“I’m babbling, aren’t I?” she said.
“Like a brook,” he agreed.
She smiled.
“If it’s not safe here, can we go someplace else?” he said.
“My house,” she said. “Can you come tonight?”
Kade nodded. “Where do you live?”
“On the west side of town. Next to the old windmill. Do you know it?”
“I know it,” he said.
“Come after dark,” Madeline said. “And please don’t tell anybody.”
Kade nodded and she looked at him as if trying to work out whether to trust him. He wondered what she would do if she decided she couldn’t. “You have nothing to fear from me. On my word.”
Madeline straightened herself up and brushed down the front of your dress. When she spoke again it was as the professional she’d been when they’d first met. “Finish your dinner sir, you won’t want it getting cold now.”
Kade watched as she walked from the room and then returned to his food. He wondered what he would learn that evening and whether it would be enough to convince him to stick around.
He left the tavern as soon as night fell and travelled by foot, having decided not to take Heck with him.
The house Madeline had sent him too was next to the windmill. Like all the other buildings in town it was wooden and starting to rot from rain and heat. The windows were dark but there was something friendly about the place. A basket of flowers hanging next to the door, a mat of the floor that said WELCOME.
Kade stopped outside and paused to catch his breath. He was looking forward to seeing her again.
When the door opened, it wasn’t Madeline standing there.
“Hello mister,” a young boy said.
“I’m here to see Madeline,” Kade said.
The boy nodded as if he expected it. “You’d better come in then.”
Kade walked into the house and the boy closed the door behind him.
Inside it was cosy. Scraps of carpet lay over the hard-wooden beams, and the walls were a warm blue colour. There were pictures on the walls and he could hear the whistle of a kettle boiling somewhere.
“In here,” the boy said, stepping past him to open a door.
Madeline was sitting by the window, an oil lamp burning next to her. When she saw him she stood up and came to the middle of the room to meet him.
“I’m so glad you came,” she said.
Kade nodded.
She seemed to sense his unease. “Will you take a seat?”
He nodded and went to a chair on the other side of the room, while she returned to her seat by the window.
“You’ve got a job for me?” he said.
“My sister was kidnapped six months ago,” she said.
“You want me to find her?” he said. He’d done missing people before, it never ended well. Most of the time they were dead, the rest of the time they didn’t want to come back.
“No, I know where she is,” Madeline said.
“Okay, so you want me to rescue her?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the payment?”
“It’s not that simple,” she said.
“Sure it is,” he said. “You tell me what the going rate is for a rescue around here, I do the rescue, I get paid. It’s simple.”
“You’d better hear the whole story first,” Madeline said.
Kade nodded and waited for her to continue. She looked at the floor and he thought she was going to beg off, that telling it was going to be too difficult for her. Then she began.
“A year ago we came to Swift Creek with our parents. They were looking for work, a place to settle down, the usual story.”
Kade nodded. He knew the story well.
“We found this house and moved in. It was a nice town, I know it’s difficult to imagine that, but it’s true. Swift Creek used to be a good place, the people were friendly and… and it felt like home. We were happy.”
“What happened?” Kade said. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but he let her tell it, wanted to hear it in her words.
“Travis showed up about seven months ago,” Madeline said. “They came into town like a war machine. People tried to fight them… my parents tried to fight them… but they were all killed.”
It made sense to him. The only people left in town were those who were too meek to fight and those who had been willing to go along with what Travis wanted.
“He took over everything. I had to find work to support my sister and, I… I don’t know… I thought I could keep her safe…”
She started to cry. Kade waited until she had recovered enough to continue with her story.
“They came for her six months ago,” she said. “They said they were looking for pretty girls… I guess this…” she held her hands up to her scarred face to him. “I guess it’s good for something.”
“What did they do with her?” Kade said.
“There’s a brothel,” Madeline said. “There’s dozens of girls working there.” She shook her head. “It’s not like the tavern. They’re prisoners.”
“And you want me to rescue her?” he said, his voice was even, not giving anything away.
Madeline nodded.
“Have you got law in town?” he said.
“An old Sheriff, but he’s in Travis’ pocket. He won’t do anything.”
“He won’t cause me trouble?”
“Maybe… I… I don’t know. He didn’t lift a finger to stop Travis, but now he’s got deputies…”
“Travis’ men?”
She nodded.
“What’s the payment?” he said.
Sometimes people offered up this kind of story in a bid to win his sympathy; then told him they couldn’t afford to pay. As if he would put his life on the line for nothing more than a sob story. He was relieved when Madeline informed him that wasn’t the case. “I can give you food for your journey, as much as you can carry.”
Kade nodded. He made a show of considering it, but in truth he’d already made up his mind. He was sympathetic to her plight and the price was right.
She moved forward in her seat until she was balancing on the edge.
After a minute, he nodded.
“You’ll do it?” she said.
“Let me look into it. Check out what I’m up against.”
“I know people, they’ll want to help.”
Kade nodded, hoping that he wouldn’t need to take her up on the offer, but not willing to turn it down flat. “Where’s the brothel?”
“I can show you tomorrow,” Madeline said.
Kade nodded.
They had no more to say to one another, but Kade found himself reluctant to leave. Something about Madeline had captivated him. He found himself wondering whether he would have agreed to help, even if she hadn’t been able to pay him. Their meeting couldn
’t last forever. Sooner than he would have liked, Kade found himself back on the street.
He made his way back to the tavern. Swift Creek seemed different now that he knew the truth. He looked at the people he passed and tried to work out whether they were Travis’ victims or his supporters. He guessed that there weren’t many victims hanging out on the streets of Swift Creek after dark.
Kade reached the tavern and slipped inside. A woman wearing nothing more than a pair of black stockings stopped in front of him on the stairs. She slurred her words from drink when she tried to proposition him. Kade walked past her and went to his room.
He sat on his bed and looked at the door. He wondered whether he could secure it, or whether he should leave the tavern altogether. In the end his exhaustion made the decision for him.
CHAPTER 5
MADELINE WAS WAITING FOR HIM IN FRONT OF the windmill. She wore a black hat which covered most of her face; a large coat to protect her from the cold, and boots that went up to her knees. He waved to her as she approached, but she either didn’t see him or was unwilling to show that she had.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Hello,” Madeline said.
He was in a good mood. Despite the concerns that had seen him to bed, he had slept well and had a job to do. Madeline didn’t seem as glad to see him. He wondered whether she was having second thoughts about employing his services. If he failed, then it would mean a lot of trouble for her and the people she cared about.
“Shall we get started?” he said.
Madeline nodded. She walked away from the mill and Kade followed closely behind her.
Swift Creek was a large town. The sprawling suburbs meant that anyone who wanted it could have plenty of land. Yet buildings were still packed together on the main strip.
It was early enough that they saw workers. A few people nodded to Madeline as they passed, most kept their heads down and minded their own business.
“Are you planning to leave when this is over?” Kade said. He felt uncomfortable walking beside the woman without making conversation.
“We have relatives in Ragport,” she said. “We could go there.”
“They’ll take you in?”
“My aunt and uncle will help us.”