Revolving a piece of the gold between thumb and forefinger, Ryan realized he was right. The chunk of metal had been melted, worked and formed some time in the past. Though gold wasn’t sought after as a rare commodity in some regions of Deathlands, in most of the baronies of the West, it was still prized and valuable enough to kill for.
“You figure Hatchet Jack thinks one of these Seven Cities is in the Wind River Range?” J.B. asked.
“Seems likely,” Ryan replied. “If he could find it, he could set up the most powerful barony in this part of the country.”
“Is that not a delightful prospect?” Doc commented sourly.
“Wonder where he got that gold?” J.B. said. “He probably traded or stole or chilled to get the map, but where’d he find the gold?”
“Probably tortured or chilled some poor Indian,” Krysty said.
To Ryan, she said, “This Red Cadre is a bad bunch, about as bad as we’ve ever seen.”
Ryan tapped the gold pieces and the map. “And we’ve got four things he wants.”
“Five,” Krysty corrected. “Your scalp.”
Chapter Six
By late afternoon the guards at the pass had reported no suspicious activity among the Red Cadre, but no one in Amicus seemed relieved. The settlement was unusually quiet. Every door, tepee flap and shutter was closed, and there wasn’t a sign or sound of movement from the interiors.
Jak and Doc, walking down the street, were made uneasy by the hush. Though neither was familiar with habits of Amicans, they were fairly well versed in villes, and the absence of children, men and women stirred their hackles.
As the only single members of the group of travelers, Doc and Jak were accustomed to giving Krysty and Ryan, and Mildred and J.B. some privacy whenever they sensed it was necessary. It sometimes was inconvenient to make themselves scarce, but they understood the need for couples to be alone from time to time.
As they walked through the town, Jak asked, unconsciously lowering his voice, “Think people moved out?”
Doc considered the possibility then shook his head. “According to Mr. Autry, the rear exit is really no exit from danger, since it simply leads to the plains.”
Sounds from the tavern attracted their attention. They heard voices, male and female, and quite a few judging by the near-constant murmur.
They pushed open the door and stepped inside. There were about twenty people fairly evenly divided between men and women. The few who noticed Jak and Doc’s entrance shot them cold glances and went back to their discussions.
Everyone was talking, arguing, debating, deliberating the Red Cadre, Hatchet Jack, mountain passes, Spotted Hawk, pack animals. Their words were interspersed with noisy slurps as they downed mug after mug of liquor.
One burly, soot-faced, stump-legged and stump-toothed man talked the loudest. He held court at a corner table, gripping a mug in one hand and a jug in the other.
“Shit, me and John Hatcher go way back,” he announced, his aggressive voice punching against Jak’s sensitive eardrums. “Used to hunt buffalo with him on the Washakie Divide. Saved his life when a chem storm came up.”
“Is he as bloodthirsty as his rep makes him out to be, Eli?” one of the men at the table asked. “Can he be reasoned with?”
The man addressed as Eli looked thoughtful for a moment. “He’s a lusty infant, no denyin’ that,” he admitted. “But he ain’t unreasonable. Just don’t cross him.”
Eli’s gaze settled on Jak and Doc. “Nope, just don’t cross him, like some donkey-shit dumb outlanders I recently heard about.”
Though Jak’s body tensed, Doc whispered, “Ignore him, lad. He’s simply passing wind the frontier fashion.”
They walked to the bar. Micah was perspiring heavily, and sweat dripped from the ends of his mustache. “White Mule?”
“If that is all you have on the list,” Doc answered.
“It is.” The bartender poured a three-fingered amount of liquid into a chipped ceramic mug and pushed it across the wet pine to him. “You and your group stayin’ or goin’?”
“We have yet to decide,” Doc replied, sipping at the rancid, fiery liquor.
The man tried to grin, exposing brown-speckled teeth. “Like the rest of these souls. Don’t know if they want to light out for points east or stay and see what the Cadre is gonna do. Right now they’re lettin’ the corn make up their minds.”