And the river had picked up speed, sluicing whitecapped roils through the brown water.
“How many blasters at the trading post?” Ryan asked.
“Don’t know.” Morse worked the wheel, putting his back into it. Muscle stood out in sharp slabs along his back, rippling with perspiration. “Depends on how many Annie’s putting up.”
“Putting up?”
Morse nodded. “Built herself a couple cabins back of the trading post near twenty years ago. Likes her privacy, old Annie does. She’s a reader. Got a lot of books the like of which I never seen before. Know one thing, though.”
Ryan surveyed the man.
“You bring Annie a book she ain’t heard tell of before, you done won her heart.”
“Does she keep a standing sec force?”
“Not what you’d call a proper sec force. She’s got a son, must be nearing fifty now, but he keeps meat on the table by foraging among the forest. Max, he’s a silent one. Good with knives. Way I heard it, the mutie cougar Annie’s got mounted over the bar was one Max took, and him with nothing more than a blade.”
“What’re the chances he’ll be around?”
“Max knows when a boat’s out on the water. He’ll be there with Annie, waiting on us. Mebbe already spotted us from the forest in the last couple hours. She’ll know who’s coming before we get there.”
Ryan glanced up at the wind-filled sails. “We’ve been making good time. Even with a horse, Max might not make it back in time.”
Morse shook his head. “We’re following the curve of the river, mister. That land on the leeward side of this boat is a half moon. Max cutting across the land is going to get to the trading post before we do. Can’t be helped.”
Ryan changed his gaze to the riverbank in question, thinking.
“You want to try to hedge your bet, mister,” Morse said, “you go on and do ‘er. But anybody you put on that riverbank now, you might as well say a few words over ’cause you ain’t going to see them alive again. Max’ll chill ’em and leave their bones to bleach in that forest.”
“Might not go that way,” Ryan pointed out.
“Mebbe,” Morse grudgingly admitted, “but if we show up at the trading post before Max, Annie’ll cut loose on us. Mebbe blow old Junie plumb outta the river.”
“With what?”
“Got herself an artillery cannon mounted up in that trading post. Scavenged it from some National Guard unit after skydark. Been in her family for a couple generations, way I hear it. Damn thing’ll set up and belch out sudden death. Seen it happen myself.”
The idea of the cannon didn’t sit well with Ryan, nor did the probability that any encounter with Max in the woods wasn’t going to be beneficial to their cause. He didn’t like the lay of the land at all, and that was a solid ace on the line. They had time, he knew he could figure a way out around it. But they didn’t, and Krysty asleep and lying only a few feet from him was a constant reminder of that.
“Anybody else at the trading post regular?” Ryan asked.
“Just her grandson. Name’s Jubal. He’s the only child of her dead daughter, and that boy’s been a retard since the day he was brought into this world.”
“How often are the cabins occupied?”
“Often enough. And Annie don’t let nobody stay there that wouldn’t pick up a blaster in her defense.” Morse pointed ahead of the boat. “See that grove of ash trees?”
“Yeah.”
“We get around that,” Morse said, “you’ll be able to get your first look at the trading post.”
Ryan nodded.
“Best you keep in mind, though,” Morse cautioned. “Once you see that trading post, you remember you’re also looking down the throat of an artillery cannon.”
Chapter Twenty
“That’s a regular fort,” J.B. commented.
Looking at the trading post, Ryan had to agree. Knowing that an artillery cannon was aimed at them at the moment didn’t set well, either. “Built it to last, didn’t they?”
J.B. nodded.
The trading post sat on a hill on the north side of the river, cadged together out of tree trunks that looked nearly four feet across. They stood uniform, one end buried in the ground while the other end stretched upward at least twenty feet. The main interior structure sat in the center of the posts, well below the sight line. But a second story overlooked the river, constructed of the thick tree trunks, as well.