Hunted fgc-2

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Yes,” Cedar said.

  “And did you…?” Kali glanced at hissword.

  “Yes.”

  “And collected the reward money?”

  “Yes.”

  She waited. This was the point when heusually handed over her share. He did not.

  “We’re not splitting this one?” Kali asked.It was understandable, since she had done little to help this time,but Cedar had stipulated a fifty-fifty cut when she first agreed towork with him, modifying his weapons and making usefulcriminal-thwarting gadgets.

  Cedar hesitated before answering. “I did nothave need of your services to take Koothrapai down.”

  “True, but I did alert you to the man’spresence in town.”

  “Which began a three-day hunt, during which Ihad to traipse all over the valley after a man who served as ascout and knew how to hide his tracks and fight when cornered.”

  “Yes, but you like those activities.”

  “I do. My argument is that your portion ofthe work was not commensurate with a fifty percent cut.”

  Kali propped her hands on her hips. “Really.Did you use any of my smoke nuts?” she asked, naming theshrapnel-flinging smoke grenades that were one of her trademarkinventions.

  He hesitated again. “Yes.”

  “See, I helped. You just tracked him down.It’s not my fault it took you three days. A trained hound could dothat job.”

  His nostrils flared and his eyes grew flinty.Even before that, Kali regretted her words. He was her only friendhere-one of her only friends in the world.

  She rubbed her face. “I’m sorry, but I needmoney to build my airship.”

  “Perhaps,” Cedar said, “in this instance, anominal finder’s fee would be suitable.”

  She closed her eyes, glad he was too matureto lash out at her life’s work the way she had at his. Or maybe shewished he would. It was hard knowing she was the childish one.

  “A finder’s fee?” Kali asked, glad shemanaged a reasonable tone of voice. She almost gave in out of hand,but if she accepted those terms once, might he not try to pressthem on her every time? If so, it could take her years to reach hergoal. “You said we were partners who would split everythingfifty-fifty. I came along because you seemed like the best bet forearning the money for the parts and raw materials that can one dayget me out of this frozen-eight-months-out-of-the-year hell.”

  “Is that the only reason you came with me?”Cedar asked, surprising her. That wasn’t what he was supposed tolatch onto.

  “What?” she asked. Was he trying to derailher argument? “Of course that’s why I came. What other choice did Ihave? You cost me any chance of winning that dog sled race andgetting my airship money that way.”

  “I see.” He sounded disappointed in her.

  And that made her bristle more than themoney. “I can’t order what I need if all I’m getting are ‘finder’sfees.’ Once I have everything I need, I’ll help you for free whileI’m building my airship. That’ll take months. And, listen, if youhaven’t found Cudgel in that time, I’ll help you hunt him down.”She tried a smile. “By air.”

  Cedar’s eyebrows disappeared beneath the brimof his hat. There, that had him intrigued. “Perhaps,” he said, “butI’m hoping we won’t need that much time. When I was turning inKoothrapai’s head, I ran into an old comrade who gave me atip.”

  He gripped her arms. His eyes burned with anintensity that had not been there during their argument.

  “On where to find Cudgel?” Kali asked.

  “Possibly.” Cedar noticed his grip andreleased her. “One of Cudgel’s trusted men, John Wilder-or WildJohn as he goes by-just registered a claim up river. His head isworth a couple hundred dollars, but more importantly: when he’saround, Cudgel’s never far off.”

  Kali forced a smile, trying to show she washappy for him, but her first thought was that he’d have littlereason to stick around and work with her once he’d completed hisquest. “Think he’s here, trying to get rich?” she asked. He wasprobably waiting for her to say something encouraging.

  “Must be.” Cedar nodded. “Your old beau isright.”

  She winced. She did not want that wordassociated with her and Sebastian.

  “Big finds were made here last year,” hesaid, “and folks’ll be flooding the town this summer. Thepopulation’s already growing.”

  “I know. This is all new. My mother’s peoplehad a camp here when I was a girl. Nothing short of gold would makemen stupid enough to build a city on land that turns into a swampwhen it thaws. I used to-er, wait. You were standing outside,listening to our conversation?” That meant he had heard thoseinsults. The last thing she wanted from him-or anybody-waspity.

  “Ah. Well…” Cedar removed his hat andscraped his fingers through his tousled black hair. “When I heardthe gunshot, I ran over to check on you. Thought bandits might haveinvaded the shop. Then, when I figured that wasn’t the case, Iwasn’t sure if I should walk in or not.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you game to help with Wilder?” heasked.

  “Yes,” Kali said, glad to change the subject.“You want to go out and check on his claim, see if he’s about?”

  “Yes, but claim jumpers are a problem uphere, aren’t they? Folks might get suspicious if we’re roamingabout, peering about people’s properties.”

  “You think someone is going to mistake me fora claim jumper?” Kali patted her overalls, causing tools to clinkand clatter.

  “You, perhaps not. But it’s possible folksmight think me…” He touched the scar on his cheek.

  “Menacing?”

  “Dangerous,” Cedar said.

  “Dangerously menacing?”

  “I’m not menacing. Villains aremenacing.”

  “You cut people’s heads off, Cedar.”

  “I cut villains’ heads off.”

  “Which is a menacing practice,” Kalisaid.

  “A noble one. I help bring peace and justiceto the world.”

  “Menacingly.” She bit her lip to keep a grinfrom sprawling across her face. She much preferred it when theywere not arguing about anything serious.

  Cedar stuffed his hat back on his head andglowered at her from the shadows it cast over his face.

  “Yes, exactly. That’s menacing.” Figuring hemight not appreciate further teasing, she switched the topic. “So,what’s the plan for investigating this Wild fellow’s claim? Want meto pack a bunch of tools and parts in case we need to do anythingcreative?”

  “Wouldn’t you do that whether I wanted to ornot?”

  “Well, yes.”

  Kali looked around, already figuring how muchshe could stuff into a packsack. She eyed the airship model,wishing she could bring it along, not because it would serve anypurpose but because it would be fun to fly it out in the open. Bestto lock it up in her hidden, booby-trapped flash-gold vault though.No need to tempt the world.

  “After you pack,” Cedar said, “let’s headover to the claims office and see what piece of land your Sebastianfiled.”

  Kali had turned toward her workbench togather her gear, but she tripped over her feet at this lastcomment. “What? Why?”

  “He offered you a job, didn’t he? His claimmight be close to Wilder’s since they filed at similar times. Wecould pretend to work for him while spying on the other man.”

  “I don’t want to work for him, I want toshoot him.”

  “Perhaps we’ll have a gunfight with Cudgel’smen and he’ll get caught in the crossfire.”

  “Cedar… This isn’t a good idea. We can’ttrust him.”

  “We don’t have to. We shouldn’t have to staythere long.”

  Kali sighed. “Fine.”

  Glass clanked outside the door.

  Kali frowned. Was someone out there listeningto them?

  Before she finished the thought, Cedar hadrun to the doorway. He stepped outside and paused.

  “Someone there?” Kali asked.

  “They were.”

  She joined him outs
ide before liquid-filledbottles hanging from ropes attached to an eave. The rudimentary“ thermometer” had come with the warehouse. The variousliquids-mercury, coal oil, Jamaica Ginger extract, and Perry DavisPainkiller-froze at temperatures ranging from forty to seventybelow zero, thus providing an indicator of the severity of a winterday. With the warmer spring weather, none were in danger offreezing now, and the contents sloshed inside the bottles, as ifsome wind buffeted them-or someone had bumped into them.

  Cedar pointed to footprints in the mud underthe thermometer.

  “Sebastian?” Kali guessed.

  “Different prints.” Cedar waved to the deepboot marks on the other side of the door, where Sebastian had stoodto lean inside. The new ones were no larger than Kali’s ownfootprints. “Judging by the stride length, the person sprintedaway.”

  Kali peered up and down the street, wonderingif anyone had seen the eavesdropper.

  The covered boardwalks fronting the logsaloons, gambling halls, and boarding houses were empty. A horseteam pulling a wagon struggled with deep mud in the nearestintersection, but the drover, busy with his whip, did not glanceher way. Nor did any of the people conversing on the wood porch infront of Gamgee’s Mercantile amp; Liquorgive any indication that suspicious folk had been about.

  “I’ll see if I can track him-or her-down,”Cedar said. “Want to pack whatever you’ll need for the trip andmeet me at the claim office in an hour?”

  “That depends,” Kali said. “When we take downCudgel, am I getting fifty percent or a finder’s fee?”

  “I’d like your full help for Cudgel, which isworth half of the five-thousand-dollar bounty.”

  She swallowed. Twenty five hundred dollars?With that kind of money, she could order brand new parts instead ofscrounging for used pieces and putting them to creative new uses.She could even hire people to help her assemble her airship. Withinthe year, she could finish it and be sailing south, over themountains and far away from icy, dark winters where the sun did notshine for months.

  “An hour to get ready?” she asked. “Who needsthat much time? I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes.”

  Cedar lifted two fingers to the brim of hishat in salute and trotted toward the end of the building where theprints disappeared around the corner. He paused. “By the way…theladies at the dancing hall like my stubble.”

  Before she could decide if she wanted toretort, he jogged out of sight.

  Kali squished through the mud, her bulkypacksack bumping on her back. She crossed Main Street and headedfor the wooden steps of the claim office. Piles of dirty gray snow,sunken and melted like candle wax, hunkered against its walls.Dwindling icicles dripped water from the eaves, vexing peoplestriding along the boardwalk below.

  Layers of clothing served as a method ofidentifying newcomers. Natives who had suffered through the longfrigid winter welcomed the cloudy skies and forty-degreetemperatures with rolled-up shirt sleeves, while those fresh to theYukon were bundled in scarves and jackets against weather that hadto seem nippy for May.

  “Kali!” came Cedar’s voice from above.

  He, too, had gathered his gear, and hetrotted down the stairs with a packsack and rolled blankets ridingon his back along with rifle and sword. He joined her at the baseof the steps.

  “Good news. Sebastian Bosomhall’s claim isdiagonally across the river from Wilder’s. We’ll be able to observethe enemy camp.”

  “Good,” Kali said. “I guess.” She struggledto find enthusiasm for working with Sebastian again. Maybe one ofthe claims directly adjacent to Wilder’s would consider hiringthem.

  Cedar cleared his throat. “Bosomhall?That’s his name? You’re fortunate his marriage offer wasn’t inearnest. That’d be a curse of a surname to have hung around one’sneck.”

  “I’m still waiting to learn your name,MK,” she said, citing the letters etched on the inlay of hisWinchester. “If you were to file for a claim, what would you writedown? Assuming the claim is only binding if you use your legalname.”

  “Since I’m not filing for a claim, there’s noneed to speak of it.”

  “Why don’t you tell people? Is itembarrassing? Do you believe sharing it would concede some powerover you to someone else?” Her mother had believed that, butperhaps it had been a truth for her. She had possessed otherworldlypowers few understood. Kali preferred to think it was that talentthat had driven her mother mad enough to kill herself-notdisappointment in her only child.

  “I don’t use it anymore. What’s important nowis that we can move forward with this task. If we leave now andwalk fast, we can get to Bosomhall’s claim today. From there, I canspy on John Wilder and-” Cedar clenched a fist, “-find out whereCudgel is.”

  Kali let him drop the name issue, though sheplanned to pry the secret out of him someday.

  “Did you find our eavesdropper?” she asked asthey squished down the muddy street toward the river beyond. A roadmeandering past the docks would take them out of town and towardthe claims.

  “No. I followed her for several blocks, whichwas difficult since she seemed cognizant of being tracked and chosewell-traveled streets.”

  “She?” Kali asked.

  “I thought the tracks might belong to a boyat first, but hips give a gait a distinctive sway, usuallyidentifiable in one’s footprints.” They turned to follow thewaterline. “The tracks left town and veered into the trees. Thetrail ended behind a hill where two lines gouged a snow drift. Logsmight have rested there, or boards. They were parallel, like a pairof large skis. Ideas?”

  “I…no.”

  “Coincidence perhaps. She may have taken tothe trees. I chose to return for our meeting instead of scoutingfurther.”

  “Good.” Kali stopped before the last dock. Itsported a tiny log boathouse. “A girl likes to hear that a manwould rather turn his back on intrigue than miss a scheduled datewith her.”

  Cedar tilted his head. “I returned becausethe possibility of finding Cudgel is my priority.”

  “I see. I’m incidental.” She strode onto thedock.

  “No, I didn’t mean to imply you weren’timportant. I-where are you going?” Thumps sounded as he jogged tocatch up with her. “I’ll keep an eye out for this woman. If she’s athreat to you, I’ll protect you. Or I’ll watch your back while youhurl smoke nuts at her and shoot her. Whatever you wish.”

  “So long as Cudgel isn’t around?”

  “Kali…”

  She stopped in front of the tiny boathousedoor and lifted a hand. “Relax, I’m not angry. I know Cudgel’s yourlife’s quest. And I’m just… Look, I appreciate that you humor meby listening to me prattle about my work. Not many people want tohave anything to do with me.” And if she wished he might be morethan a business partner, well, that was not something she shouldwish for.

  “I don’t humor you,” Cedar said. “I’minterested in your work. Especially when you’re making weapons andexplosives. And modifying my rifle.”

  She smiled. That did seem to tickle him. Shehad modified the loading mechanism on his Winchester to work likehers, automatically chambering a new round after the first bulletfired. She wondered what those dancing hall ladies thought when heinsisted on sleeping with the rifle.

  “And I’m currently interested in why we’restanding here. The mining claims are that way.” Cedar pointedupriver. “Unless you intend to steal a boat?”

  “No, I made a deal with a fellow who lost hisfishing boat last fall. I fixed his furnace in exchange for freerent.”

  “Free rent for what?”

  “You’ll see.” Kali patted her pockets. “Uhoh, did I forget the key?”

  “It doesn’t look like you forgot anything.”Cedar’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he nodded at her lumpy,bulging packsack. “Except a blanket. Or did you intend to share myEuklisia Rug?” he asked, naming his fancy bedroll. “To further theguise of us as lovers?”

  Heat flushed her cheeks. “No! I mean… Ijust assumed since Sebastian offered employment, he would providethe basics.” Dear Lor
d, this plan would involve her havingto back up her thoughtless proclamation. Possibly for days. Oneill-considered word. She groaned.

  “You needn’t appear so appalled,” Cedar said.“I’ve been told I’m a fine companion. True, my face is a littlebattered, but I make up for it with what’s beneath my clothing.” Hesmiled, but it faltered immediately. “I didn’t mean anything luridby that. Just that some women have suggested my physique ispleasant to, uhm, need help with that lock?”

  Kali shook her head and dug out a couple offine tools. Quicker to pick the lock than run back through all thatmud to the workshop. “I’m sure you’re fine.” More than fine. “Ijust don’t sleep with men whose names I don’t know.”

  “Ah.”

  If she had thought her statement wouldmotivate him to reveal his name, she was mistaken. He merelywatched her until the lock thunked and she pushed the dooropen.

  “Huh,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You can pick locks.”

  Kali shrugged and walked into the boathouse.“I can make locks. Picking them is easy.”

  “Remind me not to throw you in shackles.”

  “Is that something you contemplate often?”Kali untied a tarp draping a chest-high, six-foot-long object thatrested not in the water but on the dock.

  “Not…often.” Cedar smiled and lifteda finger, as if he might say more, but the words changed to a gaspwhen she removed the tarp, revealing the machine beneath. “Whoa.What is that?”

  The reverence in his tone warmed her far morethan the spring weather, and she forgot his fumbled words on thedock.

  “Just a little hobby,” Kali said. “You knowI’ve been antsy waiting for the parts I ordered to come upriver.I’m calling this a self-automated bicycle.” Few bicycles had tiresthat thick and rugged-or a smokestack for that matter-but it wasclose enough. “It’ll take time to heat up the boiler, but it cantake us up the trail at ten to twenty miles an hour, depending onthe terrain. We can be at Sebastian’s claim in time to watch himcook us supper.” She pointed at the broad seat. “I made it bigenough for two.”

  Cedar touched the head-high smokestack risingfrom the compact boiler in the back, then slid his hand along thesturdy black frame. “It’s fantastic,” he breathed.