Peacemaker fgc-3

by Lindsay Buroker

  “I wonder why Somerset-er,Lockhart-didn’t shoot you today.” Kali also wondered what hadhappened to the real gambler Preston Somerset. Had Lockhart shothim and taken his gear and identity?

  “He’s tried to do thatbefore. I’m not that easy to kill.” Cedar’s lips stretched into ahumorless smile. “Besides, he’s new in town, and he’s undercover.Shooting me in front of two Mounties I’m being social with would behard for him to explain. The Pinkertons don’t have jurisdiction inthe Dominion of Canada. No, Lockhart will want to get me alone totake me out.” He met Kali’s eyes again. “Or he wants to get to methrough you.”

  Kali scowled. As she’d suspected, thatscalawag had been chumming up to her for a reason.

  “I’m going to have toavoid him somehow and catch Cudgel as soon as I can,” Cedarsaid.

  “Have you…” Kali paused,not certain she should put the idea in his head. “Have youconsidered-”

  Jane appeared, her arms laden with plates ofrolls and caribou steaks. That forced another long pause while shelaid everything out.

  “Have you consideredmaking the detective disappear?” Kali asked when the server left.She never would have thought up such a notion a few months earlier,and it concerned her that it popped so easily into her head now,but she didn’t want to see Cedar get hurt, and that’s what mighthappen if he wouldn’t fight back against the man. “If he’s aloneout here, a thousand miles or more from his nearest office…whowould know what happened if he never returned?”

  Cedar sighed. “I figurethat your thinking that way means I’ve been a bad influence on you.I have consideredit. Sometimes it’s so frustrating to be hunted for something youdidn’t do-”

  “No need to point that outto me,” Kali said.

  “Yes, of course, youknow.” He smiled and took her hand over the table. “I can’t crossthat line. He’s a lawman, not a cutthroat with a bounty on hishead, and…I think he’s got a family back home, a wife and littlegirl.”

  Kali hid her relieved exhale. As upset asshe had been when she stumbled across Cedar relieving a ship fullof pirates of their heads…it was his job, and she’d come to acceptthat. He only killed hardened criminals, men and women who werewanted dead by the authorities.

  “Maybe I can lead himastray,” Kali said, “or tell him that you didn’t do it. Do you haveany proof that-”

  “Kali, I don’t want you-”He stopped himself and took a breath. “I know you can take care ofyourself, but I don’t thinkyou should get into trouble on my behalf. Youhave enough problems of your own. If he believes you’re abettingme, he might have the power to get the law after you too. And…it’llbe dangerous for you if you get caught between us.”

  “He’s fixing to talk to meregardless of what you or I want. If you tell me everything thathappened down there, at least I can try to argue your side ofthings. If he could be convinced that you didn’t do it…. Does heknow about Cudgel? Maybe we could turn him into an ally againstthe real criminal.”

  “That’s not going tohappen.” Cedar set his jaw mulishly.

  Kali rolled her eyes. Why were men alwaysconvinced things could only be sorted out with bloodshed? Why wouldCedar believe the idea of peace so impossible?

  “Let’s get out of town fora couple of days,” Cedar said. “If he can’t find you, he can’tbother you.”

  “Out of town?” she asked.“Like up to my cave to work on building my airship? With those bigmuscles of yours, I’m sure you could saw a lot of wood in a coupleof days. I’m certain you once mentioned that you’d help me, onaccount of me offering to fly you around the Yukon, hunting yournemesis once the ship is done.”

  Cedar smiled faintly. “It sounds likeLockhart knows where that cave is. I had something else in mind. Iwas thinking of a visit to your mother’s people.” Cedar prodded thetalisman again. “You said a medicine man could tell me more aboutthis.”

  “Oh.” Kali sank backagainst the seat. Not only did he want her to abandon her airshipproject, but he wanted her to go back to a place where she wouldalways feel like an outcast. She had very few good memories of herchildhood, and most of the ones she did have involved being offalone in the forest, building things.

  “Once we figure out who’skilling these girls and put a stop to it, I’ll help you finish thehull,” Cedar said. “Even if Lockhart is standing there watchingus.”

  “That apromise?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Kali could not stir any enthusiasm forvisiting the local Han camp. But having Cedar’s undividedattention-and strong hands wielding a saw-for a week or two couldget her past the tedious work and on to what she wanted to do: installing the engine. Also, maybe if she got Cedar out alone inthe woods for a while, she could get him to reveal more detailsabout the San Francisco murder. She couldn’t talk this Pinkertonfellow out of hunting Cedar if she didn’t know the whole truth.

  “Do you know where they’dbe this time of year?” Cedar asked.

  “The Han? Yes. King salmonare running, so they’ll be in their river camp. Er, I guess that’sa town now. Moosehide.”

  Cedar’s brow furrowed.

  “The government put themthere, seeing as how Dawson grew up on top of the tribe’s oldsummer camp. I know it seems strange when you look around and seeall these buildings and people from all over the world, but therewas nothing permanent here when I was growing up. Except mud. Andmoose. Mostly mud.”

  “You speak so fondly ofit,” Cedar said.

  “You haven’t been stuckhere for an entire winter yet. You’ll see. It won’t grow on you.” Kali wanted tofinish her airship and escape before winter came again so badlythat an aching lump formed in her throat at times.

  “Moosehide, then,” Cedarsaid. “I don’t reckon I’d be able to talk to them without you. Areyou willing to go?”

  “That depends. Are youwilling to share your fancy blanket again?”

  A smile softened his face.“Well, it did need a lotof attention from a seamstress after the lasttime you slept in it. Did no one ever educate you on proper thingsto do in bed? Setting off explosives isn’t one of them.”

  “My upbringing wasn’tterribly proper. Besides, I dropped the smoke nutsoutside the bag. I can’tbe held responsible for stray shrapnel.”

  Cedar’s smile broadened. “I see.”

  Part IV

  Low clouds hung over the Yukon River asKali’s self-automated bicycle-SAB for short-rumbled along the muddyroad, heading toward Moosehide. The fat, reinforced wheelsnavigated over and around roots, puddles, and horse droppingslittering the trail. Kali curled a lip at the latter, not wantingexcrement smashed into her treads.

  Cedar sat behind her, and behind him smokefrom the stack rose into the air, mingling with a morning fog thathugged the banks. Summer was still in hiding, but at least it hadstopped raining. That meant a lot of prospectors were boating alongthe river, to and from Dawson. All of those people gaped at thestrange bicycle when it passed.

  Kali barely noticed. Her mind was focusedinward, dwelling on the upcoming meeting with people she hadn’ttalked to in eight years. Though she didn’t expect a physicalconfrontation at the camp, she’d brought a vial with a couple ofher precious flash gold flakes anyway. They had proven useful tohave on hand in the past, when she’d made numerous tools andgadgets, using the alchemical ore as an easy energy source.

  Cedar touched her shoulder and pointed to arowboat aground ahead of them. A few shards of wood floated nearbyin the river. Nobody stood near the boat, but the grass and foliagealong the riverbank obscured the view.

  “Problem?” Kali peered upand down the river. At the moment, no other boats werevisible.

  “Perhaps. Perhapsnot.”

  Figuring he wanted to investigate, Kalislowed the bicycle. Cedar hopped off and jogged through theundergrowth to the boat. He stared down at something inside for amoment and then slung his Winchester off his back.

  “Problem,” Kaliconfirmed.

  She veered off the trail and set her machineto idle. Over its rumble, she al
most missed the fact that Cedar wastalking to someone. She jogged over to join him and found himcrouching to help an older man lying in the bottom of the boat.Blood streaked his weathered face, and a bulbous lump rose from thecrown of his bald head.

  “Don’t need no help!” Theman pushed Cedar away when he tried to help and clambered out ofthe boat by himself. “That boodle of mother-kissing lickfingerpirates got all my cussed gold. Shot my partner and knocked himinto the river. Lowdown, thieving cutthroats.” The man clenched afist and snatched a shotgun out of his boat. “Let them come backout of the clouds, and I’ll fix them. Pirates!” He spat, barelymissing Cedar’s boot. “Got me wrathier than a treedcoon.”

  The old man took a step and tilted sideways,like he might topple back into the boat. When Cedar reached out ahand to steady him, he growled, “Don’t need no help,” again.

  “Out of the clouds?” Kaliasked.

  “Air pirates,” Cedar said.“Must be a new ship. The Mounties said they shot down the lastoutfit preying on successful miners.”

  This was the first Kalihad heard about it, but it was hardly surprising. Not all ofDawson’s swelling population could strike it rich legitimately. Shegazed skyward. Though pirates might know about the reward for hercapture, and could be a lot of trouble, she found herself wishingto glimpse the airship. A completed, working airship. They were so rarein the Yukon. The last one Kali had seen, she and Cedar had beenforced to destroy, and she’d never gotten a chance to view theengines up close.

  “It’s not appropriate tolook wistful right now,” Cedar murmured to her.

  Kali blushed. The old man was still stompingabout, cursing over his losses. The missing gold seemed to beupsetting him more than the dead partner.

  “I’m not wistful,” shesaid. “I’m just being observant…checking to see if it’s still outthere. That’s all.”

  “Uh huh.” Cedar raised hisvoice for the old man’s sake. “Are you sure there’s nothing we cando to help you, sir?”

  “Don’t need no help,” theman repeated.

  Cedar shrugged and wavedfor Kali to lead the way back to the SAB. As they walked back, shegave the skies one last glance-and, yes, maybe itwas a wistful glance.She didn’t expect to see anything, but a dark shape stirred theclouds. Kali froze, mid-step. She blinked and the disturbance wasgone. Her imagination? Or simply an unusually shaped storm cloud?No, it had been too angular to be a natural part of thesky.

  “I saw it,” Cedar saidwith another nudge for her back. “Let’s get out of here before theydecide your contraption is something they’d like tosteal.”

  “Good idea,” Kalimurmured, hopping on. Though she and Cedar had taken down a shipbefore, it had been luck that they’d had the right supplies. Shehadn’t brought any kerosene for the trip to the Han camp, althoughshe did have her weapons, including a couple of-

  “Go,” Cedar urged. Hepointed toward the clouds.

  The craft had come into view again, itsshape distinguishable this time. Like a marine vessel, it had anopen deck, but instead of having sails above that deck, a vastoblong balloon hovered overhead, dwarfing the ship with its size.At either end of the deck, enclosed weapons platforms rose likecastle turrets poised over a moat. Open cannon ports ran along thewooden sides of the ship. Its size promised room for a crew ofthirty or forty with plenty of room to spare for cargo-or stolengoods.

  “Going is good,” Kalisaid. She shoved the lever that controlled acceleration, and theSAB surged forward. Cedar hung onto her with one arm around herwaist, while he held his Winchester with his free hand, his torsotwisted to watch the sky.

  The airship was heading downriver, whileKali and Cedar were heading upriver. If it didn’t change itscourse, they had nothing to worry about.

  “It’s coming about,” Cedarsaid.

  “Figures.” Kali yanked herdriving goggles over her eyes and pushed the engine to full speed,with a vague notion that they’d be safe if they reached the tentsand cabins of Moosehide. At the least, the Han would have weaponsto help fight off intruders.

  The wheels churned, slinging mud in everydirection. She could get twenty miles an hour out of the engine onflat, even ground, but the Yukon River shoreline rose and fell,with the glacial rock beneath the dirt making navigation achallenge. The trail never ran more than ten meters without turningaround a boulder or tree. Fog still hovering over the hallows addedto the challenge.

  “Are they after us?” Kalicalled over the breeze whistling past.

  A boom cracked the air, and somethingslammed into the earth five meters ahead of them. Dirt and rockflew, and Kali jammed her heel against the brake lever to keep fromcareening into a newly formed crater.

  “Yes,” Cedarsaid.

  “Thanks, I gotthat.”

  He fired a shot, though Kali was focused onsteering the SAB around the ditch and did not see if it did anygood. The river flowed past fifteen feet below, and they tilted andwobbled as she maneuvered past the crater. A big, black cannonballlay in the bottom.

  “The artillery man isprotected inside the turret,” Cedar yelled, “and I can’t seeanybody else up there from this angle.”

  Kali increased the speed again. It was onlytwo more miles to Moosehide. Maybe they could-

  Another boom sounded. This time thecannonball tore a hole in the riverbank, and the trail ahead ofthem disappeared in a rock slide. Dirt and stone sloughed into theriver, and Kali had to brake again. They’d be lucky if they couldclimb past that. Driving was out of the question.

  She stopped the bicycle and jumped off.

  The airship had descended from the clouds,and Kali could see people in the turrets now, though the windowslits protected them while allowing them to fire out. A few piratesscurried across the deck, though they were careful not to remain insight for long. From the ground, the angle was poor for shooting atanyone up there. That didn’t keep Cedar from trying to keep thembusy. He fired his Winchester, aiming for a slit in the closestturret.

  Kali considered the wooden hull of the ship,wondering if she could find a weakness. The engines were protected,but twin ducted fans on the bottom propelled and steered the craft.Scenarios for disabling them ran through her mind, but she didn’tsee how she could do anything from the ground.

  Cedar fired another shot, but it onlychipped at the wood on the turret.

  Kali laid a hand on his arm. “That’s notgoing to do anything.”

  “You have aplan?”

  “I have somegrenades.”

  “Even better.” Cedarshouldered the rifle and held out his hand.

  While Kali dug into her saddlebag, she keptan eye toward the ship. The gunner had to have them in his sights,but he did not fire again. A few men appeared at the railing, andone peered down with a spyglass held to his eye. Cedar promptlyreadied the Winchester again and fired.

  The man ducked out of sight, and Kaliimagined she could hear his cursing. A heartbeat later, he poppedup again, this time with a rifle of his own. It cracked, and shardsof rock sheared away from a towering boulder behind Cedar.

  He grabbed Kali around the waist and pulledher behind the rock. Fortunately, she had what she needed in handwhen he did it.

  “What are those?” Cedarasked when she held up the fist-sized bronze balls.

  “Grenades.”

  “They don’t look likemilitary issue.”

  “No, they’re Kali issue.You press this, and it creates a spark, like with a flintlockand-”

  Something clinked to the ground on the otherside of the boulder. Kali leaned out, intending to check it out,but Cedar pushed her back. He was closer to whatever it was and hada better view.

  “Smoke,” he said. “Up thehill.”

  Though she debated on the wisdom of leavingcover, Kali figured he had more experience with being attacked, soshe scrambled in the direction he pointed. The steep slope made ithard to keep her footing, and she had to stuff the grenades intoher pockets. They clinked against tools, and she hoped she had madethe triggers hard enough to pull that they couldn’t bump aga
instsomething and go off.

  “Faster,” Cedar urged, ahand on her back.

  “I’d be faster if I knewwhere we were going,” Kali shot over her shoulder. The airshiphovered in her periphery, no more than ten meters above them. Itsengines thrummed, reverberating through the earth, and the fansstirred the ferns and grass on the hillside. “And if we weren’tleaving my bicycle behind,” she added under her breath.

  “Just get away from-”Cedar coughed and pulled his shirt over his nose. He paused toloose another rifle shot at the airship, though it thuddedharmlessly off a turret.

  A sweet stench like burned honey trailedthem up the hill. Not trusting it, Kali held her breath.

  A copse of evergreens rose at the crest ofthe hill, and it seemed like as good a place as any to make astand. The airship wouldn’t be able to maneuver through the trees,and Kali could throw a grenade at anyone who tried to steal theSAB.

  A giant metal claw on a chain clanked ontothe rocks to the left.

  “Uh?” Kali said, for lackof anything more intelligent.

  A second claw landed to her right, then athird one struck down a few feet ahead. As one, the devices swungtoward her.

  “Uh!” she blurted andscrambled backward.

  Kali bumped into Cedar and was surprised hewasn’t moving more quickly. A glaze dulled his eyes, and confusioncrinkled his brow.

  “Move!” Kali tried toshove him out of the path of the claws, but he was heavy and didn’thelp her at all. She didn’t seem to have her usual strength either.A strange heaviness filled her limbs, and numbness made her fingerstingle.

  That honey smell. It had to be some kind ofsedative.

  The nearest claw scraped closer. It swungin, angling for Kali’s torso. She ducked and dove beneath it, butthe lethargy in her limbs stole her agility, and she landed in anungainly pile and skidded down the slope. Mud spattered her, androcks dug at her through her clothing.

  Something landed on her. Rope?

  Kali tried to bat it away, but it waseverywhere. Not just rope, she realized. A net.