“I’ve noticed most peopleare only busy for things they consider an onerous task.”
“Kali, it’s not like that.It’s…” He looked away, not toward the camp or anything dangerous inthe area that could have claimed his focus. Just away.
Kali swallowed. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter.I’m not looking to get married any time soon. I want to see theworld and not be beholden to anyone or have a litter of hungryyoung’uns dangling from my…uhm, self.” Even with the correction,she blushed. She hadn’t known any proper ladies growing up, but shehad a feeling discussing teats with men was probably considereduncouth in most circles.
A hint of a smirk touched Cedar’s lips, buthe didn’t say anything.
Kali cleared her throat and pointed to theairship. “Should we get close or wait until dark to scoutabout?”
Cedar lifted his eyes toward the sky.“That’s hours from now. This is a pesky time of year for stealthilysneaking about.”
“Come in December. You cansneak in the dark twenty-four hours a day then.”
“Yes, I caught the tailend of winter. It’s also hard to be stealthy when your teeth arechattering and your bal-bear cubs are hiding in theirdens.”
“I didn’t realize bearcubs-” Kali snorted at his substitution; that was worse than herfumble, “-played a role in one’s scouting abilities.
“A robust man is a manconfident in his skills.”
Kali grinned. It was a silly conversation,but it reminded her how much she appreciated having him around. Alump formed in her throat, and she swallowed, trying to force itdown. They had more important things to focus on now.
Cedar pointed at a man walking into thewoods and unbuttoning his fly. “I’m going to grab that one forquestioning,” he whispered.
Kali barely managed a quick, “Be careful,”before he slid out and took a circuitous route toward thepirate.
On her knees, Kali braced her Winchester onthe log, found the pirate, and put him in her sights in case hegave Cedar trouble. She tried to keep an eye on the ship and thecamp as well, counting people when they walked into view. The treesmade it hard to get an estimate, but she guessed there were atleast twenty crew members. It would be hard to acquire the ship forherself with that many pirates loitering about.
Though Cedar might prefer night for skulkingabout, he did fine sneaking up on the fellow-indeed, even knowingroughly where he was, Kali had trouble keeping track of him. Astheir target was buttoning his pants, Cedar stepped out from behinda tree and placed a knife blade against the man’s throat. Thepirate’s hand darted for a holster on his belt only to find itempty. Cedar had already removed the pistol. He showed it to thepirate, then stuffed it into his own belt.
Cedar said something to his prisoner, andthey started walking, angling away from the ship and Kali as well.She waited, expecting him to circle about and join her, but hedidn’t. She was about to stand up and find him when a second piratewalked into the woods, a rifle propped against his shoulder. Hefaced her, his gaze skimming the forest. Kali sank lower so onlyher eyes poked above the log.
It was too soon for anyone to miss the manwho had gone to pee, so she guessed this was a guard the captainhad sent out. The pirates had to know that people would come afterthem in droves if word got out that their ship had gone down. Kalidoubted that old man on the river was the first miner they hadrobbed.
A falcon on the hunt screeched overhead. Thedampness of the moss beneath Kali’s knees was starting to seepthrough her overalls. She wondered where Cedar had taken the otherfellow. And why hadn’t he come to get her, so she could listen inand ask questions too?
The guard finally turned his gaze in anotherdirection, and Kali scooted backward, retracing their route to theridge.
A shadow stirred on the periphery of Kali’svision. She jerked the rifle in that direction, her finger ready onthe trigger.
Nobody was there.
A strip of moss dangling from a branchstirred slightly. Her eyes narrowed. She licked her finger andstuck it in the air. If there was a breeze, it was too faint to domuch. Maybe someone had bumped that moss. Cedar? No, he would havehad to cross through her field of vision to get to that side ofher.
Kali continued to back down the trail. Shewatched that piece of the woods for several slow steps, but nothingelse moved. In a nearby tree, a pair of squirrels chattered as theychased each other about. If there had been something dangerous,they would have been hiding.
When Kali reached the ridge, the sound ofvoices drifted to her ear. She picked her way through foliage andaround stumps to find Cedar standing over his captured pirate, thepistol pointed at the man’s head. Cedar looked at her when sheapproached, but his face was hard to read. Kali assumed a peevedexpression to let him know she expected to be involved withimportant things. He gave her a quick nod, but quickly focusedagain on his prisoner.
“Why’d you have this inyour loot room?” Cedar asked, displaying one of the bead-and-hidepatches.
“Never seen it before.”The pirate spat on the ground. “Told you I don’t knownothing.”
Cedar grabbed him by the front of the shirtand jammed the pistol against the man’s throat. “If you don’t knownothing, then there’s no point in me keeping you alive,” hegrowled, voice savage, eyes like ice from the bluest depths of aglacier. The prisoner’s surly demeanor vanished.
The fierce, cold mien chilled Kali, and shewondered if Cedar had known he would have to get tough and that waswhy he hadn’t invited her to the interrogation. Maybe he didn’twant her to see him questioning someone. Too bad. This was apirate, someone who had tried to capture her and would havereceived a share of the reward for turning her over to gangsters.And, if the pirates had killed that old man’s partner, they weremurderers as well as kidnappers.
“I don’t have anything todo with it, I swear,” the man whispered, his eyes crossing to stareat the pistol barrel.
Kali straightened, staring intently at theman. This might be the lead they’d hoped for.
“With what?” Cedardemanded, prodding the pistol against the man’s Adam’sapple.
The pirate gagged and sputtered. “Thegirls,” he managed. “That was all Sparwood. Nobody here’s intothat. We don’t murder, least not if we can help it, and nobody’sraping and torturing girls and then cutting them up. He was a sickbastard. That’s why the captain sent him walking.”
The admission of rape and torture made Kaligrip the nearest tree for support. She focused on the harsh, thickridges of its bark beneath her palm and tried not to picture thatgirl-Vixen-being tormented before finally being killed. And shetried not to think about the fact that that grisly killing hadhappened less than a mile from the cave where she was always outworking, all alone….
“This Sparwood actsalone?” Cedar was asking, and Kali realized she’d missed part ofthe conversation.
“No one would want tospend time with that monster.” The pirate did an admirable job ofshuddering for someone with a pistol jammed into his throat. “He’smean as a rabid badger, but worse’n an animal. Takes real pleasurein hurting folks, especially…” His eyeballs swiveled to lock ontoKali.
Though his significant stare made her squirminside, Kali lifted her chin and crossed her arms over her chest.She wasn’t about to let some scruffy pirate believe she wasworried.
“Where is he now if he’snot with your ship?” Cedar asked.
“Captain put him off justnorth of Dawson. Figure he’s in the city by now.”
“What’s he looklike?”
The pirate licked his lips and eyed thetrees. Did he think this Sparwood might be about and come takerevenge if he was betrayed? The pirate lowered his voice. “Big man,bigger’n you, with a chest like a whiskey barrel. Bushy black hairand beard. Beady dark eyes. I seen him get shot once and not evenfeel it.”
Cedar looked at Kali, his eyebrows lifted asif to ask if she had any questions of her own.
“Why does he leave thebeadwork?” Kali asked.
The pirate checked Cedar’s face, wonderingif h
e had to respond to some girl’s questions maybe. Cedar’s glowerdeepened, and the pirate shrank into himself. While Kali foundCedar handsome, she had to admit he could assume a fearsome mienwhen he wanted to. The scar, in particular, gave him a grim, deadlyserious visage when he wasn’t smiling.
“So the Injuns getblamed,” the pirate whispered with another glance atKali.
“I see,” Cedar said. Hehid his thoughts well, but Kali knew he was irked to have fallenfor the ruse.
“Why does he cut them up?”Kali asked, trying to imagine what manner of tool a man might useto leave those parallel gashes in a person’s flesh.
“So people will thinkanimals or angry spirits did it,” the pirate said. “And it’sworking for him, too, last I heard. Ain’t no lawmen pointing afinger at him.”
“Yet,” Kali said. “What’dyou say his full name is?”
“I don’t knowit.”
Cedar leaned closer to the pirate, and hiswords were so soft Kali almost missed them. “You sure that’s thetruth?”
The pirate nodded vigorously.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kalisaid. “There are plenty of wanted posters that don’t have fullnames on them. The Mounties can just stick up anotherone.”
“No,” Cedar said. “We’lltake care of this animal before they have time to print one up. Andbefore he has time to kill again.”
His grip had tightened on the pirate’sshirt, and the man swatted at the hands cutting off his air supply.Cedar didn’t even seem to see him. His eyes were hard but focusedinward, and he barely seemed to notice the pirate in his grip.After what Kali had heard, she couldn’t blame him.
“You killing that onetoo?” she asked, in case he would feel guilty over accidentallystrangling a pirate.
Cedar’s eyes came back into focus, and heloosened his grip. “Probably should. No telling how many honestworking folk these men have robbed, but I didn’t see any heads withbounties on them when I was skirmishing on the ship. We’ll just letthe Mounties know where to find these men. Maybe they can arrestthe pirates before they fix their ship.”
Though the prisoner was busy gasping forair, he still managed to pale at this statement. Kali chewed on herlip. If the Mounties took care of the pirates, she wasn’t going tohave much of a claim on the ship.
“Get some rope out of mypack, will you?” Cedar asked. “We don’t want this one scurryingback to warn the others.”
Kali retrieved the rope, but she was mullingover alternatives to relying on the Mounties. If she and Cedar tookcare of the pirates, they’d be able to legally claim the ship forthemselves. That wasn’t foremost on his mind though. She’d have totalk him around to her way of thinking. “What if they get theirship fixed before the Mounties come?”
“That’d be a shame, butcatching that murderer is my priority.” Cedar held out his hand forthe rope.
“Maybe we could take careof both somehow.”
“How would we get in thereto incapacitate everyone without being noticed? There are close totwenty men over there.” Cedar waved toward the ship. “At night,when everyone’s sleeping, we might be able to get the jump on them,but that’s hours off, and I want to get back to Dawson before thisSparwood strikes again.”
“We got one out.” Kalipointed to the man as Cedar bent to tie him. “Maybe it wouldn’t beso impossible to subdue the others.”
“Unless you know somewayto knock them all out at once, I don’t see how it could be donewithout a passel of unneeded danger for ourselves.”
Kali could think of chemicals that couldmake that happen, but she didn’t have anything like that. Theycould start a fire and drive them out of the area, but burning theairship wasn’t what she had in mind. Ideally, she’d take it withoutdoing any more damage to it than was already there. “No,” sheadmitted.
“Best to go back toDawson,” Cedar said, “catch this murderer, and let the Mountiesdeal with the pirates.”
“They could be gone by thetime the Mounties get here,” Kali said again, though she sensed sheneeded to come up with a stronger argument to sway him. “Think ofall the people they might kill, going after folks along theriver.”
Cedar had finished tying the pirate to atree and had torn the man’s shirt to create a gag to keep himsilent. He propped his hands on his waist and eyed Kali. “What’reyou angling for exactly?”
“Me?” Kali shrugged.“Nothing.”
“Really.”
Kali shifted from foot tofoot and avoided his knowing gaze for a long moment before saying,“All right, I was thinking that if the pirates were all captured orarrested or otherwise incapacitated, we could relieve them of the airship. Thatwould destroy their ability to thieve from the air.” Yes, make itnoble, Kali, she told herself. Make it about helping the miners.She stifled a snort of derision for herself.
“You want to steal theirship?” Cedar asked.
“If they stole it first,then it’d hardly be called stealing, right? We’d just be liberatingit for a nobler purpose.”
“Such as?”
“Taking us around theworld. Or hunting slimy villains from the sky. It’d be easy to keepup with Cudgel if we had our own transportation, something that cango right over mountains and inaccessible terrain. And I wouldn’thave to booby trap all of my working and sleeping areas totarnation and back because I’m so paranoid that someone’ll sneak upon me and try to tote me off to Soapy Smith or the Scar of Skagway.Sure, the ship would need a lot of modifications, and it’d likelybe fall before we could take off, but we could get out of Dawsonthis year. It’d be-” she clenched a fist, almost tasting thetriumph, “-heavenly.”
Cedar, eyebrows raised, seemed bemused byher enthusiasm, but at least he didn’t laugh. He took her arm andmoved her out of range of the tied prisoner’s hearing. “I supposeit would be safer for you to be in the air where enemies seekingyour father’s secrets couldn’t sneak up on you.”
Kali barely heard him. In her mind, she wasalready picturing the ship and what might be done to it. It was alarger vessel than she’d thought to make, but she would have plentyof room for a crew, and maybe they could even pay for the expensesof maintaining an airship by taking on passengers. She’d end upbeing a captain with people under her. Huh. She’d have to thinkmore on that later, but now she imagined crawling around inside,inspecting and measuring every inch, sketching up schematics,planning her modifications. She’d clamber up in there right now, ifit weren’t surrounded by pirates.
“All right,” Cedar said.“I’ll help you, but let’s get the murderer first.”
His words catapulted Kali back to themoment. “First? But if he’s in Dawson, and we’re right here, surelywe could…”
“It’s only a few milesback to town,” Cedar said dryly, “and that won’t take long on yourbicycle.”
“True, but we don’t haveany idea where in Dawson to look for this man. He could be hidingout anywhere. It’s a big city these days. And if those men get theship fixed before we get back, we might lose theopportunity.”
“Kali, I know the airshipis important to you, but if another woman gets murdered tonight,will you be able to live with yourself, knowing you chose personalgain over helping out? Those are your people getting killed, whetheryou want anything to do with them or not.”
“What can I do? You’re thetracker. I don’t know how to hunt men down in the city.” Kalistepped back and stuffed her hands into her pockets. He wasn’twrong, but she didn’t care for having someone lecture her. And,damn it, she didn’t want to do the right thing, not if it meantdelaying her dream. She could be a do-gooder after she had her shipin the air. “Look, why don’t you go and hunt this Sparwood fellow,and I’ll stay out here and work out a plan to get the-”
“No.” Cedar gripped herarm so tightly it was almost painful. “They’re a danger, and thatPinkerton detective is a danger to you, if he finds you too. And Idon’t want to imagine what would happen if Cudgel knew about you,and found you, and-” He dropped his chin, staring at his hand wherehe gripped her. He loosened hi
s fingers, but did not letgo.
Kali’s anger and irritation faded. “Is thatwhy you’ve been so scarce lately? Cudgel’s about, and you don’twant someone letting him know we’re…something?”
“I can’t let that happen,”Cedar whispered. “Not again.”
“Again?”
Cedar dropped his hand and walked a fewsteps away, turning his back to her. Was he talking about hisbrother? Or maybe the murdered girl from San Francisco? Had shebeen someone he cared about? But she’d been married, the articlesaid. It had also said he’d been having an affair with her. Shegrimaced, not wanting to think of Cedar doing something like that.Somehow cutting off heads seemed less despicable. More unsettlingperhaps, but given that they were the heads of murderingcriminals….
Kali shook away the thoughts. He wasn’tsaying anything else, and they shouldn’t stand up here, this closeto that pirate camp forever. One last idea came to her, one moreway she might be able to sway him.
“That man barely gave us adescription and didn’t give us any hint of where to look,” Kalisaid. “Maybe there are pirates in the ship who know more about thisSparwood. If we figure out a way to subdue them and question eachof them, maybe we can get more of a lead.”
Cedar had not turned back to face her, andhe remained silent for a long moment. The sun had set, finallybringing evening, and mosquitoes buzzed about, nipping at Kali’sskin.
“Do you believe that?” hefinally asked. “Or are you saying what you think I want to hear inan attempt to change my mind?”
Hands still in her pockets, Kali scowled andstudied a gnarled root at her feet. “Yes, I want the ship, butthere could be something useful to be learned there too. We don’tknow enough to pick someone out of a city of thousands.”
“There aren’t that many ofyour people living in Dawson. We can look them up individually.Maybe you can even name some.”
“Me?” Kali bristled athaving them called her people. As everyone on both sides was quick to point out, shewas a half-breed, some mongrel who didn’t belong to anyone. “Ihaven’t been living in Dawson any longer than you, and I pay lessattention to people than you do.”
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