“I’m afraid I’ve been elsewhere,” Max answered, lowering his head so I couldn’t see his eyes.
“Yes, our friend has been having fun with the ladies for the past few years,” Cornelius said and then regretted it when Max threw him an angry look. Cornelius cleared his throat and quickly looked at me. “I mean he’s been out looking for, well, I mean...”
“That doesn’t really surprise me,” I said and I could see disappointment stretch across Max’ face. “From what I’ve read, pirates are really not that nice.”
“Yes, well,” Cornelius went on, trying to avoid the piercing glare from his friend, “Maxwell has gotten me out of many scrapes down here and I have tried to return the favour. I ran into him about six months ago while on a trip down south for supplies. It just so happened that Pig was on a southern run as well and Maxwell had the pleasure of meeting him.”
“Pleasure? The man tried to steal my guns and take my horse,” Max was obviously angered by the memory. “When Cornelius explained who he was and how he tried to run things here, well, I knew I should try to do something about it. So, I took a trip north and pushed my way into his camp.”
“A spy!” Billy seemed thrilled by the idea. “You became a spy!”
“Yes, I did.” He looked at me, hoping he had redeemed himself. “At great risk to myself I might add.”
“Yeah, well you must be good at being bad because they followed you without question when Pig died,” I pointed out.
“Yes, but I knew there was a split in my alliance,” he said, ignoring my sarcasm. “I knew that there was another voice amongst the men. I just didn’t know who. I had my suspicions about Rat but I had no solid proof.”
“Ryan, his name is Ryan.” I was somehow angered by the fact that Ryan’s name had been taken from him.
“I thought that I could get this person, Ryan, to join forces with me,” he continued. “If we worked together, we could get rid of Pig and bring an end to the violent way he liked to rule. But Ryan had his own agenda.
“He was working with a valley person. That much I knew from the way he kept sneaking out of camp for days at a time. He told Pig he was looking for animals but he always came back empty handed.”
“I knew it!” My taunting of the couple back at camp had been pretty accurate. No wonder Ryan was so angry with me.
“I followed him one day and saw him with the blond woman,” Max continued. “They were very friendly towards each other and I knew she had to be his ally.”
“Sarah,” whispered Marshal. I walked over to him and slipped my hand into his. Marshal liked Sarah far more than any of us knew and he was hurting.
“And what about Butcher?” I asked. There was a reason Ryan was so upset that I killed him.
“Butcher was working with them,” he said. “As far as I could tell he was supposed to be their muscle in return for first dibs on any meat or people caught. He was the only one that Pig was afraid of and Butcher didn’t mind helping to get rid of Pig. If there was going to be violence Butcher always wanted to be a part of it. When you killed Butcher, they had to come up with another plan quickly.
“The day the three of you came into camp to protest the blockage of the river, I knew Ryan was up to something,” Max said. “There was no way the woman would risk facing Pig with her lover right there and not have a plan. I wanted to find Cornelius and let him know about the traitorous woman and the danger that was probably in play. Then the dam blew. It was Ryan who blew it; I’m sure, because the woman had run off in the other direction. She’s the one who shot Pig.
“I went back to the camp as soon as I could. I knew there would be confusion and I needed to establish myself as their new leader as soon as possible. Ryan was still in the woods with his woman. When he came back, I could see the anger in his eyes that I had taken charge and he had missed his opportunity. Then those stupid, inept guards brought you guys to camp and everything changed,” he said, looking at me.
“Why would everything change?” I asked. “We were prisoners; Ryan could have had us killed if he wanted to but he didn’t.”
“Not with me there,” Max said. “I was the new leader. The camp was under my rule and there was no way I was going to have you harmed or killed. Not when...”
“Not when what?” Billy asked. Max quickly looked away.
“Not when it was me who was trying to make things right,” he said. “I thought I had everything under control and then that idiot came in, shot by the woman most likely. I had to do something; make a show of it. I had to make the men believe that I was just as capable of leading them as Pig was.”
“You were pretty scary,” I said. Max looked at me and smiled.
“Years of training while sailing with Kidd,” he said.
“Yeah, well, you had me fooled,” I said.
“You made no sign of fear towards me,” he looked directly at me and I felt my stomach flutter and then looked away. This seemed to please him and he smiled before returning to his story. “The camp couldn’t let an incident like a man being shot go without some form of punishment. I tried to be menacing; make it look like I was a threat to you but I didn’t want to hurt you. So, I...”
“Offered me hot chocolate,” I said. “You know, that wasn’t really intimidating, a bit confusing though.”
“I wanted to threaten you with something besides violence,” he explained. “You seemed unaffected by promises of pain and torture.”
“So, you wanted to, what, polite me to death?” I didn’t get it.
“No, I...” his face turned red and then he forced himself to stand taller, “...I wanted to threaten you with my masculinity.”
“Excuse me?” I couldn’t believe he had just said that and I could hear Emma Lee gasp behind me. “You thought that if you forced yourself on me, I’d spill my guts?”
“I wasn’t really going to force myself on you,” he tried to explain. “I just had to make you think I was.”
“You know, that constitute as pain and torture,” I said. “It’s called rape.”
“I’m sorry,” he looked genuinely embarrassed and I felt his apology was real. “It didn’t work, though. Ryan had drugged the hot chocolate and, before I knew it, you were in your tent and unconscious.”
“Yeah, how come you didn’t get knocked out?”
“I didn’t drink mine,” he smiled. “You were so busy consuming yours that I don’t think you noticed that.”
“No, I didn’t,” I looked down guiltily. “But, hey, hot chocolate is a weakness I’m not ashamed to have.”
“Well, I took the opportunity to gather the men I trusted most and leave,” he said. “Ryan was getting desperate and I knew he would make an attempt on my life. I had to find Cornelius and form a plan to get rid of Ryan and his blond valley girl.”
“Hmm, blond valley girl,” I laughed. Everyone looked at me strangely; they didn’t get it. “It just sounds like an 80’s movie, that’s all.”
“While I was gone, you two took it upon yourselves to leave.”
“Ryan helped us,” said Robert who had been silent up until now.
“Yes, I suppose he did,” said Max. “Why wouldn’t he? The sooner he got rid of you guys, no matter how, the sooner he would be able to put his plan in motion to usurp my authority and start running the camp the way he and his girlfriend wanted to. Besides, when you left, it gave him the opportunity to sneak the woman into camp. She just had to dress as a man and keep her mouth shut and not go near the tent with your wife.”
“She must have talked though,” said Robert and I saw that he was fingering the blue string. “That’s when Madge must have noticed her. That’s why she was murdered. She must have overheard them talking and tried to get away to warn us. But she couldn’t walk, her ankle was broken and she couldn’t keep quiet; it wasn’t in her personality. She must have told Ryan she knew about him and Sarah. She must have expressed her displeasure in Sarah’s betrayal. She must have...” He put his hands through his hair and I
could tell he was ready to break but then his face went still and his composure was back. “Sarah has paid for her misdeeds. It’s all balanced now.”
“And Ryan?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, “I never saw him.”
“What?” I had assumed Robert had killed both of them. “You mean Ryan’s still out there somewhere?”
“My revenge was directed towards the person who killed Madge,” he said. “And I completed that task.”
“Great, then where the hell did Ryan go?” I asked. “Did anyone see him?”
“I have a feeling your Ryan is far away from here by now,” said Max. “With his woman gone and the camp destroyed, he has no reason to stay.”
“He’s not my Ryan,” I said. “And I don’t think you’re right. Ryan was always popular up top. He was the star quarterback, the teacher’s pet, everyone loved him. He could have anything he wanted, any girl he wanted. He’s not going to like not having that attention. He’s going to be mad. I bet he’s going to go and regain his composure somewhere but he’ll be back. He’s too full of himself to be smart enough to stay away.”
“We’ll be ready for him,” said Billy as he held up a shaking fist.
“Yeah,” said Kitten as she copied Billy with a tiny fist and a scowl on her face. We all laughed at them.
“And with that,” said Cornelius, “we should make our way back to our homes. The river is back to normal and our fields could probably use a drink.”
Everyone started to walk towards the valley. I stayed by the edge of the forest, staring into the trees. Max noticed that I wasn’t moving and came to stand beside me.
“He’s probably fine,” he said to me.
“I don’t care about Ryan,” I said, angry that he could think I cared for the jerk.
“I’m not talking about Ryan,” he said. “I’m talking about your dog. I know how much you care for him.” I was surprised he noticed my connection with Barker. He was the only one who even realized he was not here with us.
“Where is he?” I cried. “I know he got away but, with Ryan out there, I’m scared for him.”
“He’s gotten away from the boy before,” he said. “I heard him tell the woman how he had tried to stab him but the dog had bitten him and escaped.”
“So, that’s who did it,” I said. “I thought it was you who hurt Barker.”
“It’s not my style to hurt animals,” he said. “Tell me, were you one of them?”
“One of who?”
“The girls that followed Mr. Wonderful up top. Did you bask in his popularity? Were you one of the women who couldn’t say no to him?” He was trying to joke but I could tell that the idea of me following Ryan around like all the other dumb girls was disappointing.
“Have you met me?” I laughed. “I don’t follow anyone around least of all some pompous jerk who thinks the world should kiss his ass and enjoy it. No way did I follow Ryan Duncan around.”
“I was only asking.” He put up his hands in surrender. I guess I did sound a little overzealous. “It’s good to know you have standards.” He reached out and tentatively touched my hand. “Now, could you tell me if I could ever fit those standards?”
“You, a pirate who’s been having ‘fun with the ladies’ for the past few years? You want me to fit you into my standards? I don’t think I could do that.” I looked at the disappointment on his face and continued. “But I might be able to be friends with a man who risked his life to help out a comrade and a group of people he never met before.”
“I think I’ll accept that,” he said with a smile, “for now.”
“It’s all I can give you,” I said, “for now.”
“We should really get going,” he said. “The others will be waiting.”
“What about Barker?” I said, not wanting to leave.
“He’ll find us,” he said and I figured he was probably right.
Chapter 18
Four months later...
Ryan had been walking for what seemed like forever now. He had fled the fire in Pig’s camp with nothing but a knife and a rifle. He only had the bullets that were in the gun and had only found the need to use it once since he left. He had stumbled upon a black bear that first day on his way through the forest. It was frightened by the fire and was in a crazed state. Ryan had no choice but to shoot it between the eyes and run. He didn’t even know if he had hit it but was pretty sure it wasn’t going to follow him. He used the knife the rest of the time.
He had to flee the camp, though. He saw the man he had helped, the one whose wife Sarah had gone crazy on and smothered, walk up behind his Sarah and put his hands on her. He had watched as the man quickly twisted her neck and heard the crunch as the bones broke and she fell lifeless to the ground. He looked up in shock and met the man’s eyes and knew that he was next, so he ran. He ran fast and hard, not even looking back to see if the man was following him.
It took him three days to finally think about what had happened; to start to feel the sadness at having lost the only thing that had made this world bearable. He supposed he cared for Sarah more than he thought. At first, she had just been a way to fit in down here. She wasn’t that pretty but she was a woman and there were very slim pickings down here. He had his needs and she seemed so willing to fulfill them. When she started talking about taking over the camp and having all that power, he was excited by it. Why not? He could order people around; they’d had their fun at ordering him around, hadn’t they?
Everything was going good too. No one suspected anything. They convinced Pig to dam the river after the 360. It was a good way to gather the strongest from the valley and start a war that would leave a trail of bodies and him and Sarah king and queen of all of them. But then, Maxwell came to camp with his fancy accent and fancy clothes. He started talking about getting rid of Pig and becoming friends with the valley people. He said they could work together. But that’s not what he wanted at all and Maxwell was going to ruin everything.
To make matters worse, that stupid bitch, Nicky Barrett, had to fall. Of all people, she had to come down here. He had tried to ask her out once and she had turned him down. Ever since then, he hated her. No one turned him down and she was the flaw in his otherwise perfect world. When she showed up at camp he had to get rid of her. He knew she would cause trouble and he was right. He would go back when he was ready and pay her back.
He had been wandering for weeks now and was completely lost. Geography, history none of it was important to him in school. He only knew his own neighbourhood and his family only flew to tropical places for vacations. He wasn’t going to do any of that here. When he left the camp, he headed southeast, away from the mountains and towards, what he hoped was the States. He had no food and relied on the hospitality of others along the way. If the people weren’t willing to feed him, he would take and if he had to kill to get what he wanted then so be it. He had become good with his knife over time. He almost got that friggin’ dog once and swore he’d never let anything get away again.
He knew he was somewhere past a range of mountains and a pretty big lake. He wanted to be where it was warm. The winter was hot on his heels and he never wanted to feel the bitter cold again. His dream was to make it to California or Mexico where he could lie on the beach and swim in the ocean. But, right now, he needed to find out where he was because he was pretty sure he should be heading west soon.
He spent the night camped out in another field. This one grew corn and he knew there must be people somewhere that had planted it. He tried to eat a few of the cobs but they tasted dry and bitter. It only gave him a belly ache. He drank the last of his water and ate a few cookies he had robbed from a couple that he met about a week ago. He was hungry. There hadn’t been many people along his route for the past three weeks and his meager supply of food had quickly run out. He needed to find people with lots of food or he would starve.
In the morning he woke up slowly and stretched out his muscles. Today would be the day he wou
ld find lots and lots of food, he told himself. He packed up what little things he had and started off. He’d been walking for only an hour when he saw them. It was a big camp, maybe a hundred, maybe more. They were camped in tents and had horses. They looked well organized and he knew they would have food. He was happy. There would be plenty of people to share a meal with him if he played his cards right. He picked up his pace and headed towards the camp, his stomach already growling with the anticipation of food.
He was right. There was plenty of good food. There were spits of some kind of meat turning over open fires and bowls of fresh fruit and vegetables. He even saw one man chewing on a granola bar and smiled at his good fortune. He walked through the camp nodding greetings and waving hellos to the men as he passed them. No one talked to him but they all grinned and waved back. There were no women he noticed and he found it a little strange but not strange enough to leave. A camp this size must have a leader, he thought and it was probably best he asked him if he could have some food. If he had to work for a few days in the camp to pay it off he would.
“Going somewhere young man?” It was a tall man with dark hair and black eyes. He looked First Nations and he looked like he was in charge.
“I-I was looking for the leader. Is that you?” Suddenly Ryan wasn’t too sure he should be there.
“That would be me,” said the man. “What do you want me for?”
“I was wondering if your camp could spare some food and water for me,” Ryan said. “I was making my way to California and ran out of supplies. I’d be willing to work to pay it off.”
“Why are you going to California blond boy? Got a girl there?” The man smiled and the men around him laughed. Ryan laughed with them, trying not to look intimidated.
“N-no, I just wanted to get away from the cold winter up north,” he said.
“Up north?” This seemed to interest the man. “You come from up north?”
“Yeah,” he said, thinking this was his way in. “Up in Alberta, near Calgary.”
“Oh, I see,” said the man. “Cracker, Dolton get our young friend some food. Give him some meat; he looks like he could use some meat. Can you use some meat young blond boy?”
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