Deadlands Hunt

by Gayla Drummond

  "I think I like their idea of primping," Curtis informed them, having caught a glimpse of the ladies beginning to descend the stairs. "Yeah, I'm sure I do."

  Other eyes followed his gaze, and their looks became stares. Chase in particular found his eyes refusing to detach from the vision of supple buckskin encasing well-curved hips and much longer legs than he'd unconsciously given Amethyst credit for having.

  The buckskins were tucked into high, glossy black riding boots. Cream-colored shirts fit snugly into the buckskins, and gun belts hugged each tiny waist. Both young women wore dark brown cowboy hats.

  As one, the men stood as they approached the table. Brian found his voice first. "What the hell are you wearing, Amy?"

  "Much more sensible attire for the matter at hand," she replied, placing her burden of duster and saddlebags on the bench between them, grateful for the distraction. She wasn't quite ready to meet Chase's eyes after the night before, regretting her show of weakness. "I doubt silk skirts would stand up to the task, so men's attire seemed the more suitable choice."

  "I think they look wonderful," Peter gallantly remarked, earning a grateful smile from a pink-cheeked Sally.

  "I've damn sure never seen men look that good in buckskins." Kyle grinned at Amethyst. "What do you think, Chase?"

  Chase didn't get a chance to answer as Brian exploded. "They look ridiculous. Scandalous! Go upstairs and change this instant!"

  "We will not!" Amethyst flared, flipping the braid she'd woven her hair into over a shoulder. "Do be quiet, Brian."

  "Yes, do be quiet," Sally echoed, leaning forward to look at him. "You're being quite the rotter, you know."

  "No one was speaking to you," Brian snapped, causing the blond to gasp in outrage. "Amy, this won't do. Not at all. You cannot go about dressed like this in public."

  "I don't mind," Curtis broke in. "Don't mind at all."

  "No one asked you, Weren," the human snarled, his blue eyes narrowing.

  "How rude," Bran spoke placidly while serving himself from the nearest platters. "No one's called you 'human'. Would you like some eggs, Amethyst?"

  "Yes, thank you." She smiled then glared at Brian. "Sit down, close your mouth, and eat your breakfast, Brian. If you're not pleased, may I remind you that you still have the opportunity to refrain from continuing this journey?"

  "I think you require my presence even more if you're going to insist on dressing in such an inappropriate manner. I gave you credit for more intelligence than you've been displaying of late, Amy."

  "I think I shall slap you again if you don't stop speaking this instant." Amethyst locked eyes with him; the Weren watched in fascination, never having seen a human female and male involved in a mental dominance battle before. "I'm serious, Brian. Sit down and eat your breakfast."

  A minute dragged by, then he obeyed, eyes leaving hers to settle on his plate. Chase noted she didn't give the man a smile or a 'thank you' like the ones he'd gotten when giving into her demands. Not that graciousness was required after she'd so handily proven herself the more dominant of the two. It was a nicety that the man certainly didn't deserve at the moment.

  "My goodness, I hope all our meal times aren't as loud," Sally said, accepting the platter of eggs when it passed down the table.

  *

  An hour and a half later, all eight mounted up, ready to ride out with Bran in charge of the packhorse.

  "By the time we're actually in the Deadlands, the sun will be up," Chase told them. "I want you four to stay in the middle of the group."

  Amethyst nodded, urging her leggy, blaze-faced bay alongside his black horse. The fact the Weren hadn't referred, by look or word, to the night before had lessened the embarrassment she'd been feeling. Sally followed, her smaller bay easing between Amethyst and Kyle's mounts. Peter exchanged a grin with Bran as the latter moved to flank him. Curtis gave a bland look in return of Brian's scowl.

  Glancing around, a satisfied Chase nodded. "Let's ride."

  Amethyst adjusted the strap to the bag that held the bolts for her crossbow, the small weapon dangling from her saddle horn and lightly bouncing with each step her horse took. Chase watched it from the corner of his eye. Unable to stand it any longer as they cleared the edge of town, he asked, "That's not going to go off, is it?"

  "Oh, no, the safety's on," she blithely assured him, patting the stock. "It's never gone off, even at a gallop. Unless I meant for it to. It's my preferred hunting weapon, you see."

  "Do you hunt a lot?" The Weren didn't see why any of them would, living in a city.

  "Usually once or twice a week. The wilds around Taryton are fairly teeming with game. Runebok, mottled elk, boar, and even the odd mountain bear shows from time to time." She shrugged. "There’s also a good variety of fowl and smaller grazers. They're quite the pest to the farmers, you know, so it's sort of a civic duty to keep their numbers down."

  "Amy's a top arbalest," Sally remarked, swinging the booted foot of the leg she'd hooked around her saddle horn. "She took a simply enormous mountain bear two years ago. It's made a lovely bedroom rug, all gold, and red."

  "Two shots with that little bow of hers," Peter added from behind them. "Through the eyes, into the brain. It came rushing out while we were loading a couple of runeboks on the cart."

  Amethyst shrugged, her tone self-deprecating. "I just happened to be closest."

  "What do you do with all the meat?" Bran asked, trying to compute how much game such hunts would result in. Chase was struggling to imagine the little red head facing off with one of the giant bears, which were usually well over nine feet in height.

  "Oh, it's distributed to the poor, unless we want to keep some," Amethyst said, glancing over her shoulder. "Taryton doesn't have any citizens starving within its walls."

  No, Chase thought, she wouldn't freeze up. He was worried that Sally would and reserved judgment on Peter. Brian, he was partially convinced was all bluster and the most likely to freeze when something happened. Which something would, more than once, that was the nature of the land they were riding into.

  However, his pack worked well together, even though Bran had only joined them a couple of months before. The Weren knew they would make it back out, barring running into an entire horde of either trolls or orcs. He'd make sure that both women also made it out. Not that he intended to leave the two men on their own, but they were men, so they'd have to take care of themselves as much as possible.

  "I might put you on meat duty," he said, glancing at Amethyst. "A bow's quieter, and we don't want to draw attention to where we're camping."

  "I'll keep my eyes open for game then," she replied with a smile.

  *

  There wasn't a clear divider between the settled territories and the Deadlands. The land didn't change dramatically or give any other indication that one was now in a more dangerous area. As the sun rose to shine down upon them, it did so over much the same landscape that had edged the farms that lay outside Taryton. It was the same view the four travelers had seen daily from the stagecoach's windows. Amethyst said as much.

  "About twenty miles ahead, we'll hit a canyon system. There'll be more rocks, less trees and shrubs," Chase informed her. "On the other side of those, there are grasslands that eventually end in desert."

  "And what's beyond the desert?" Sally curiously asked.

  "Mountains."

  "Have you been to them?" was the blond's next question. Chase shook his head.

  "No one goes there," Curtis stated. "The mountains are the homelands of all the orc and troll tribes. There's wyverns too."

  "I've never seen a wyvern." Amethyst sounded wistful. "We don't have them in our mountains."

  "We do have griffins though," Sally reminded her. "They are terrifying. Always hissing and cawing."

  "They've got beaks," Peter pointed out. "They can't speak any other way. I think them quite handsome, and rather like watching them fly."

  "They are a sight," Kyle agreed. "There's a clan of them that lives
near our home territory. Good allies."

  "Have you seen a dragon?" Amethyst asked, looking past Sally towards him. "I've not, but would much enjoy meeting one."

  Amused, Chase spoke up. "There's a young silver living in a cave near Hondo. The folks there were happy he decided to settle. They keep him fed during the winter, when game's scarce, and he's done a good job of guarding the place."

  "How far from Adersol is Hondo?" Amethyst turned her gaze to him. It struck her suddenly that he was handsome, and she studied his face while the Weren answered.

  "About a hundred and twenty miles to the east. It's a border town too. If you didn't already know that," Chase added, scanning their surroundings. Having more acute senses meant carrying on a conversation and staying alert were easy for shape shifters, but her intent regard made him to feel a need to look away.

  Brian was brooding. Having no interest in the conversation, he was nursing a growing, intense dislike of Chase. He felt that Amethyst was paying entirely too much attention to the Weren and beginning to worry she might be feeling an actual attraction.

  Everyone knew the beast men stole away whatever human women they could manage to for nefarious purposes. They were beasts, no matter how well they played human. They didn't feel the higher emotions, such as love.

  It would be up to him, Brian decided, to keep the silly woman safe from their escorts. A sideways glance showed him that Peter was completely unconcerned about the position they were in. The fool.

  Curtis was dividing his attention between his pack leader and Brian, his ears and nose alert for surprises from the ground. Amethyst was the first woman since Delphine that Chase had so much as spoken to, and Curtis wanted to see what would happen. The human's glowering expression was just entertaining to watch.

  Still the burly Weren thought that the human would bear watching, since he seemed to think Amethyst belonged to him. Even though she'd made it plain that she didn't think so. Maybe if things worked out, she might decide Chase was someone she wouldn't mind belonging to.

  Curtis decided he could hope for that.

  *

  The morning's travel went without incident, and Chase called a halt around noon when they entered a small clearing. "We'll let the horses rest for a little while."

  "Doesn't seem all that dangerous out here," Brian said while dismounting. "We haven't seen anything but birds."

  "There was something a few miles back," Amethyst replied, sliding down from her horse. Surprised, all four of the Weren looked at her. Suddenly uncertain, she asked, "Wasn't that vague stench something? We angled away from it."

  Chase eyed her over the top of his saddle while loosening the girth. They'd picked up a hint of a draco lizard; he'd figured the humans hadn't smelled it at all. "You've got a good nose. Draco lizard."

  "I didn't smell anything," Brian asserted.

  "Apparently, she's got a better nose than you do." Curtis grinned, deciding to embellish a bit. "It stank like it was walking right alongside us."

  A suggestion of a sneer flashed across Brian's face. The Weren wished Chase would let him smack the human down. Just once. Curtis was positive that would be all he needed.

  Peter rolled his eyes while exchanging a look with Bran, who grinned and shrugged.

  "Anyone hungry?" Chase asked, ignoring Brian. "We won't be stopping again until almost dark, when we reach the beginning of the canyon."

  Seeing the uncomfortable look on Sally's face, Amethyst took her crossbow from the saddle horn. "I think we need a few minutes before lunch."

  Chase nodded at Kyle, then Bran. "Go check around."

  "Please hurry," Sally pleaded, bouncing slightly. Grinning, the two shape shifters melted away into the underbrush. A bit of silent communication passed between the two women, which involved making faces at each other. Amethyst shrugged her duster off. Sally followed suit after a brief pause.

  It had warmed up. Curtis certainly appreciated the improved view while removing his duster. Ladies in britches was a wonderful sight. Catching Chase's reproving glance, the burly Weren busied himself by rolling his duster up and tying it to his saddle. Chase pulled his off, before holding out a hand for the women's. "I'll take care of those. Kyle and Bran are back."

  "Clear.” Both smiled, noting the ladies were now duster-less.

  "Come on, Sally," Amethyst directed, giving hers to Chase. After doing the same, Sally hurried off behind her friend. Brian scowled as all eyes followed the two women until they were gone from sight.

  "Do you mind?" he snapped at Curtis, tone pure acid. The shape shifter took his sweet time before answering.

  "Nope. Don't mind at all."

  *

  "Amy?"

  "Yes, dear?"

  "You're not going to marry Brian, are you?"

  "Of course not," Amethyst replied, scanning their surroundings with her crossbow at the ready.

  "Oh, good." Sally sighed in relief. "Because I think he's all wrong for you."

  "I'm of the same opinion. He's proven himself extremely unpleasant the last few days."

  "Rather," Sally agreed. After a minute of silence, she anxiously asked, "Peter hasn't though, has he?"

  "Oh, no. I would definitely travel with you both again."

  The blond hesitated. "What do you think of our new friends?"

  "They're nice," Amethyst responded. "Why?"

  "Oh, nothing. I quite like them as well. Peter does too, you know. Brian's being such a..."

  "An ass. He's being an utter ass," Amethyst interrupted. "We should return, Sally."

  "All right."

  *

  Having been expecting a scream, even after a clear patrol, Chase was relieved to see the two women returning. Things could happen quickly out here; the necessity of them having some privacy was something he understood, but didn't like.

  "We'll spread out a little for the afternoon, riding in pairs. I want everyone to keep an eye out for any sign of the wagon train," Chase ordered, ending their brief rest break a short time later. The shape shifter was pleased when Amethyst pulled her bay alongside his black once more, obviously prepared to be his partner for the afternoon.

  Brian wasn't, but there was little he could do about it. Grim faced, he watched them ride off together, vowing to make every effort to take her attention off the Weren when they made camp that night.

  Waiting until they'd gone a short distance, Amethyst asked, "Would it be rude of me to ask you a few questions about being Weren?"

  Chase glanced sideways, but she was alertly scanning the ground and vegetation as directed. "No, go ahead."

  "What do you call it, when you go from human to your other shape? Shifting, changing, turning?"

  "Shifting."

  "Is it painful?" was her second question.

  "No, not after the first time."

  "Why is it painful that time?" Amethyst wondered if she was asking too personal of questions when Chase didn’t immediately respond.

  He was trying to come up with a way to explain. "I guess because it's the first time. It's like a...river channel, one that hasn't had any water flowing through it yet. The ground's dry, there's loose dirt, pebbles and old leaves clogging it up. The first water coming through stirs all that up, washing most of it away, and soaks into the riverbed."

  "Ah." She pondered his answer for a few minutes before shyly asking a final question. "And what do you look like, in your other shape?"

  "A lot bigger and really hairy," Chase replied, his tone wry. Stealing a glance to make certain she hadn't offended him, Amethyst chuckled.

  Watching her from the corner of his eye, the Weren grinned.

  *

  "Not even a dried rut," Kyle called out while riding up to the down slope that marked the beginning of the canyon. "Didn't spot a thing. Not a scrap, no scorched ground, nothing."

  "All right. Let's see if we can't find a good spot for camp before we lose the light," Chase ordered, puzzling over the lack of signs. Even after several months, that large of a
group of people, with wagons and livestock, should've made enough signs of passage that something would've been left: an old box, a child's toy, bones from hunted meals, possibly even a grave. Something - but not absolutely nothing.