“Here we are,” Thurmond suddenly announced.
Lisa took one look at the place, and frowned in disgust. The tables were scattered around in an irregular pattern. There didn’t seem to be any set number of chairs for each table. The floor was barely clean, and the tables and chairs even less so. The only light came from candles with low flames. The bar radiated darkness, dustiness, and desolation.
She and Thurmond wound their way through the maze of tables to the bar counter. Behind the counter a middle-aged man and two young women were cooking and cleaning mugs. The man turned, saw Thurmond, and gave him a perfunctory greeting.
“What’s happened now?” the man asked.
“You know this man?” Thurmond gave him a sketch of the thug who’d killed Holden.
“Yeah. His name’s Burt.”
“Burt? That’s all?”
“Didn’t hear nothing else. He came here from some other town, somewhere south, I think.”
“When did he arrive here?” asked John.
“’Round the last quarter-moon. Quite a few days ago. Why all the questions, Thurmond?”
“He was found face-down in the river a couple days ago.”
The man behind the bar nodded. “Yeah, I’m not surprised.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He was a mean son of a bitch.”
“He commit lots of crimes?” Lisa asked.
“Not a lot. But he didn’t take any easy jobs, if you know what I mean.”
“Did he have many employers?” Thurmond pressed.
“Just one.”
“Do you know who he worked for?”
“Nope.”
Lisa spoke up. “Why not?”
“Well, miss, I don’t get out of here much. I open after lunch, and close after midnight. Only names I know are those that come in here often.”
“So you don’t know his name,” said Thurmond. “Did you ever see his face, or hear his voice?”
The man behind the bar spat. “All his clean clothes, and snotty manner, and not once did he buy a drink, or even a meal. I don’t need his kind coming in here.”
A smile crept across Lisa’s face. “One of Pueblo’s merchants, I bet. Know his name?”
“Never gave his name.”
“Would you recognize him if you saw him?”
“I think so.”
Lisa turned to Thurmond. “Isn’t Holden’s property to sold off this afternoon?”
“Yes.” His face lit up. “You think the man behind these murders will be there, don’t you?”
“Probably.” She turned to the barkeeper. “Would you come with us to the sale?”
“If I was paid.”
“You’ll be paid,” Thurmond said.
“I’ll meet you both there.” Lisa headed for the exit.
“Where are you going?”
“To get Holden’s ledger.”
***
The number of people inside the council hall could barely be called a crowd. Even two of the council members were missing. Lisa stood to one side of the room, and kept an eye on the interested parties. She clasped Holden’s ledger to her body as if she held a huge sack of trade tokens.
Thurmond entered through a side door with the barkeeper. Lisa leaned close to the man. “This won’t take long. Take a good, long look at those people. Let me know if you recognize any faces.”
A moment later town manager stood up. He banged a small gavel on the table once, then said, “Come to order. We are here to dispose of the property of Brad Holden, killed a few days ago. We have had an offer of a half-pound of gold and two pounds of silver, to be weighed on our scales, and to be paid within one week. The offer comes from Andrew Maxwell.” Maxwell briefly stood, bowed, then sat back down.
“That’s him,” the barkeeper said.
“Maxwell.” Lisa opened the ledger and flipped through the pages. She found the entry; he gave the gifts of silence, the three items stolen from Holden’s home. She asked Thurmond, “Maxwell and Holden, were they enemies?”
“Yes.” Thurmond started to move.
“Wait. Have they had any arguments recently?”
“No.”
“So why kill Holden if...?” Lisa’s voice trailed off. No one was stepping forward to dispute the offer, or make a better one. Of course not, she thought, no one can afford to.
The solution finally came into her mind.
“I wish to dispute the offer,” she called out. She walked to the front of the room. She nodded to Thurmond, who then motioned to one of the guards at the room’s entrance way.
“On what grounds, Miss Herbert?” the manager asked.
“On the grounds that Andrew Maxwell had Brad Holden murdered, then killed the man he hired.”
“That’s a lie!” Maxwell shouted, rising.
“I beg to differ, Mister Maxwell. That man,” he said, pointing to the bar owner, “has identified you as the thug Burt’s employer. We know that Burt killed Holden, then sold the three items you had him steal.”
“Do I have to listen to these lies?”
Lisa turned to the manager. She thrust Holden’s ledger at him. “The three stolen items were gifts from Maxwell. The page with this information is marked.”
Maxwell spun towards the exit. Thurmond waved. Two guards stepped in Maxwell’s way, and two more took places by door. Three more came in through the right side hallway, and four entered on the left. Maxwell remained where he stood.
“You will also note our departed friend’s explanation for these gifts,” Lisa continued. “He called them ’gifts of silence.’ Maybe Holden found out something about your activities. Maybe her learned some dark secret about your, or your family. Whatever it was, Holden demanded, and got, a blackmail payment.”
“You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?” Maxwell snapped.
“Smart enough.” Lisa took slow, calculating steps towards the accused murderer. She sneered at the man. “Maybe you allowed him to learn of a false secret. It doesn’t really matter, though. What does matter is, with Holden out of the way, you could buy his holdings. Combined with yours, you’d be a very powerful man.”
Lisa’s eyes narrowed. “You are scum, Maxwell. But so was Brad Holden. I wish you and he had killed each other off.” She shook her head, and turned back to the council. “I hope all this won’t be lost on the rest of Pueblo.”
“Get Maxwell out of here, Thurmond,” the manager ordered. His eyes carefully avoided Lisa’s. “This sale is suspended until further notice.”
CHAPTER 6
Several people wanted to thank Lisa for uncovering the truth. She didn’t want their thanks. It was partly because she was ashamed of herself. She hadn’t meant to get so angry. She hadn’t planned to say to the Council what she had. She did not want to make them mad at her. She was an invited guest. She wanted to solve problems, not insult people.
Mainly she wanted to tell Little Wolf that his ordeal was over. She acknowledged the congratulations politely but swiftly. She jogged to the part of the building where the jail was. No one was on guard, and the keys were out in the open. She took the keys and unlocked Little Wolf’s cell.
“It’s all over. You’re free to go.” The warmth in her voice surprised her.
She was more surprised when the young man smiled broadly, and hugged her tightly. “Thank you very much, Lisa Herbert.” He let go. “I owe you my life.”
Lisa raised her hands. “No, please. Your thanks are payment enough.”
“There must be something I can do for you.”
“No. Go back to your people. Live out your years...”
“I cannot,” he mumbled.
“What?”
“I cannot go home,” he repeated. He hesitated a moment. “I was in love with a woman of my tribe. Her father would not let her marry me. He claimed I wasn’t a good enough warrior to marry his daughter. She loved me, and we tried to flee together. We were caught before we got too far. He persuaded the elders to exile me.”
“That’s why you were this far south.”
Lisa looked at the sad young man for a moment. Where will he go now? Even if I have proven his innocence, he won’t be welcome around here.
Come to think of it, I might not be too welcome now, either.
Her back stiffened, and she smiled. “You say you owe me your life? Well, Little Wolf, I accept.”
“What?”
The nodded towards the doorway. “Come with me. Let me tell you my story.” As he followed her out, she continued. “I’m not from this world. I came through the hyperspace portal on my world to this one.”
“The portals are open again?”
“Just the two. I came here because back on my world, there wasn’t any place for a smart young woman. I could teach, or tend the library in my town, but the women at those jobs weren’t that old. My only other choices were to give up and get married, or to go someplace else. I figured out how to operate our portal, and here I am.”
“Why come to this town? What does this have to do with me?”
“The leaders down in Great Junction sent me here to deal with the problems the farmers were having.”
“You are that woman I heard about.”
“You didn’t know before now?”
“I overheard others speak of what you did. I never heard your name, or what you looked like. Why did the leaders send you to this town?”
“I guess it was a test. They wanted a reason to believe me when I told them why I came to White Rocks.”
“You passed your test.”
“More or less.” Lisa let Little Wolf open the door to the outside. “I did help the farmers, and I’ve helped you. But I’m not as sure as I was that I can really make much more of a difference here.”
“You have done well. That isn’t enough?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that. Besides, I need some time to think about everything that’s happened.”
“You still haven’t said what this means to me, why you accept my offer.”
“Oh, sorry. Well, I’d like you to go along with me.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. The next town, the next world, it doesn’t matter. I think my father would want me to have a traveling companion, someone to watch my back and help me out. You can’t go back, and you certainly can’t stay here. Come with me. I’m looking for my place. Maybe we can find your place, too.”
Little Wolf didn’t need any time at all to consider her offer. “Where you go, I shall follow.” They clasped arms. “Where shall we go?”
“Great Junction. Tomorrow. We’ll see if their leader has a new test.”
***
The second time Lisa spoke to Edward Coe, it wasn’t in a windowless room with the head of the local law frowning at her. It was in his bright, spacious office, with him behind a desk and she and her new friend in comfortable chairs. The cynical Redfern was replaced with a curious Little Wolf. Best of all, Coe began their conversation with a compliment.
“You got those farmers on their feet, and you saved this young man from execution. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m glad I took a chance on you, Lisa Herbert.”
“You’re in a pretty small group, Mister Coe.”
“I don’t think so. Yes, you did bother some of the merchants up in Pueblo. But we need to be reminded not to take business as a life or death issue. Deep down, I think they’re pleased with your efforts.”
“Thanks.”
Coe’s expression changed slightly. His eyes met hers. “Don’t let what happened get to you, Miss Herbert. Life is messy. Not everyone will be happy with everything you do.”
“I know. I just think...” She glanced at the floor. “Mister Coe, I know that murder isn’t typical of what goes on around here. It’s an extreme. I wonder, are people here too selfish for their own good?”
“Possibly. Is there something you want to do?”
“Not me. I’m not from this world. I mean, people have to want to change. Helping those farmers was easy. All they really wanted was someone to tell them that they had get along with each other to prosper. I just supplied some good reasons.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.”
“I’m not. I’m just saying that one clever young woman can’t change people unless they want to change.”
“We aren’t all as ruthless as Brad Holden or Andrew Maxwell.”
“No, you aren’t. It just seems to me that you need to compete a little less, and cooperate a little more.”
“And how do we do that?”
“Remember what you said to me, about traveling at night? ’All bandits are robbers, but not all robbers are bandits?’”
“Yes.”
“Then turn Redfern loose. Go after all the bandits. If a merchant, someone of importance, is using them to hurt his rivals, punish them. Draw a line. Make it clear that competition is one thing, breaking the law another.”
Coe appeared to hesitate. “That could get me into lots of trouble.”
“Is doing nothing any better? Y’know, sooner or later somebody will suspect the same thing you do. Only they might not be in power, and they might blame the men in power. All those in power. Or maybe someone will get back at their rivals like Maxwell did.
“Mister Coe, I’ll admit that I don’t know you all that well. But you do seem to be a good man at heart. You care about your people. Those under you respect you. I’m sure that, if you do the right thing, people will support you. Just tell them what you want to do and why, and they’ll go along.”
Coe leaned back in his chair. He nodded slowly. “I suppose it is time to get that dirty little secret out in the open, deal with it.” He looked at Lisa. “Will you help me?”
She sighed. “I wish I could. As I said, I’m not from this world. Not everyone trusts me like you do. Those folks might use my help as a club to beat you with. They might say that I’m trying to take over. That you’re doing what I want, that I have some control over you.”
“I wish you were wrong. And I would like your help. So, if you’re not helping me, what are you going to do?”
“I’d like to visit another world. See if I...” She glanced at Little Wolf. “...we can do for others what I did for people on this one.”
“And you really wouldn’t be that far away, if I do need your help. All right, then. Where will you go?”
“From here I could go back home, to Big Springs, or to Lone Star.” Lisa paused to consider the choice. “We can’t go to any other worlds from Lone Star. We can get to Fairfield from Big Springs.”
“I’d choose Big Springs.”
“Why?” Lisa asked.
“If things got hot for me around here, they’d be hotter for you.”
“How would I know?”
“Tell you what.” Coe reached into his desk and took out a small object. He stood and handed it to Lisa. “You know what that is?”
She examined it. “It’s an old clock.”
“I think they called it a wrist-watch. Here in Great Junction, we managed not to lose our sense of time as it used to be counted.”
Lisa nodded to herself. There weren’t many clocks on White Rocks, she noted, but there were none on Fairfield. People here didn’t mark time in vague terms like “morning” and “evening.”
“I want you to know what time it is here,” Coe said, echoing Lisa’s thoughts. “If you come back here at night, you might not attract as much attention as you did the first day you arrived.”
“Right.”
“But I don’t want you sneaking away. Not just yet, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“I always pay those who work for me. Allow me to pay you both, with dinner at my house, and some supplies for your journey.”
***
The ruins near the Big Springs portal reminded Lisa of Centropolis. But the buildings here were in worse shape. Time couldn’t completely erase the signs of fire and panic. The streets were littered with debris, ranging fr
om bones to old powered vehicles.
The unrest here must have been horrible, she thought. The outlaws must have won.
The landscape wasn’t quite so ravaged. The ruined city was surrounded by hills. They were taller than the hills Lisa knew on Fairfield, but they weren’t mountains. There were plenty of gaps in the hills; there were still more hills in the distance. The woods close to the city appeared thick. Lisa wasn’t certain if that had always been true or whether that was another product of the clearing out of the city. She did know enough to see that if the wilderness was encroaching on the ruins, no one was living here in any permanent way.
She and Little Wolf scoured the ravaged city for any trace of roads leading out. They found one heading north, another heading northwest, and another going southwest. Demolished vehicles partly blocked all three. Little Wolf found a smaller trail leading to the southeast. Nothing blocked its route.
Lisa looked at the trail. “Too narrow to be road,” she said.
Little Wolf bent down. “It’s recent. Maybe a few years old.”
“Let’s follow it, see where it leads us.”
“It’s getting late.”
“Oh, right,” Lisa said. “I guess I lost track of time.”
Little Wolf frowned. “You missed the lowering sun?”
“No.”
“You are a strange woman.”
“Just find us a safe place to camp for the night.”
They spent the night in the remains of the home. It was relatively intact, and provided them some shelter from the cool night air. Nothing disturbed them once the sun went down. Lisa wondered if it wasn’t just the city that was abandoned.
She found an old and fragile map of the world in the house. Afraid that it might disintegrate if she took it with her, she copied it in her notebook. The map told her that this city was Springdale. There were three towns to the west, one town to the north, one to the northeast, one east, and one southeast. The main purpose of the map appeared to be to guide visitors to Big Springs. Lisa recalled reading somewhere that before the Rain people did travel just for fun. But no such map was made for Fairfield, and there didn’t seem to have been one for White Rocks. She wondered about that, then dismissed the question as irrelevant to the matter at hand.
The next morning she and Little Wolf set out from Springdale. They briefly debated whether to take one of the roads or to follow the newer trail. Little Wolf pointed out that the trail might exist to avoid some hazard still on the roads. Lisa couldn’t dispute his logic, so they took the trail.
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