“All right, pick it up, we’re almost there!” Zee shouted. He broke out into a gallop as they reached the top of the cliffs, a high, cold wind whistling over the flat expanse of dust and drygrass. The ground sloped down towards a crack in the earth forged by the river that fed the falls. Aster’s stomach flipped as her own horse ran with reckless speed towards the gorge.
“Do you see the bridge?” Clementine asked her, the wind tearing her words away.
Aster opened her mouth to respond when a gunshot rang out, shattering the night.
She whipped her head around. The raveners had reached the top of the cliffs, too, rising up out of the dark. They were still too far back for their shots to hit, but they wouldn’t be for long.
The dead protect us, Aster prayed desperately, whipping back around. The bridge finally came into view, suspended over the air by two lengths of rope. Would it even hold them?
No time to worry about that now.
Zee slowed down once again as he began to cross, the wooden planks echoing hollowly beneath his horse’s hooves. Mallow and Tansy followed him, then Violet, then Aster and Clementine. It swayed and groaned sickeningly under their weight. Aster made the mistake of looking over the edge. The bridge was only about fifty feet across, but it was at least three times as far down to the river shimmering below.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Violet was chanting to herself.
“Don’t look down,” Aster warned. She could sense her horse growing more and more skittish the further out they went, and she murmured soothing words to it, hoping it didn’t sense the fear in her own voice.
They were a little over halfway across when its back hoof punched through a plank of wood.
Aster grabbed for its mane as the horse’s rear dropped lower. Vertigo rushed through her head, terror through her belly. Clementine let out a screech and gripped Aster around the middle so tightly that it hurt.
“Clem!” Zee shouted.
Her jaw set, Aster leaned forward to help right the horse’s balance. It scrambled and regained its footing, caught up to the others.
“What happened?” Tansy asked in a high voice.
“We’ll be fine, go,” Aster panted. The raveners would reach the bridge any second now.
More gunshots rang out from behind. Aster urged her horse forward as fast as possible over the rest of the bridge. Reached solid ground once again.
“Aster—” Zee began.
“I know.” Aster jumped down from the saddle, grabbed her knife, and began sawing away at the rope. Her limbs still trembled from their near fall. Sweat poured down her neck.
“STOP RIGHT THERE,” one of the raveners roared.
Aster looked up. The raveners were only a few lengths away from the bridge now.
The blade cut through the first rope. Aster began on the second.
“Zee, get them out of here,” she ordered.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Clementine insisted.
The crack of a gunshot echoed, sudden pain searing Aster’s cheek. She let out a cry. Almost dropped the knife. “Zee—”
Then the second rope snapped, and the bridge dropped away. The raveners skidded to a stop at the edge of the other side of the gorge, guns raised. Aster stood, breathing hard, cupping the bleeding side of her head. She was afraid to move. Zee wheeled around and pulled up next to her, drawing his gun. Mallow and Violet did the same.
For a moment, the two groups stood in tense silence across from each other. Then one of the raveners raised a lantern—which meant, Aster realized, that he wasn’t a ravener at all. Raveners could see perfectly in the dark. The man stared at them from across the gap, well built, with paper-white skin, a long, straight nose, and a thick red moustache.
Something about him … he looked familiar.
Aster tasted bile. “Help me up,” she murmured to Clementine.
Slowly, without turning her back to the man and the raveners, Aster climbed into the saddle behind her sister. Her head swam with pain. Her stomach heaved.
The man smiled thinly and gestured to the raveners behind him, who lowered their weapons.
“Don’t worry, Luckers. This isn’t where you die,” he called across the gap, his words echoing down the gorge. “We still have much to discuss, you and I. My family needs answers. The people need answers. We’ll meet again, I guarantee it. And when it’s your time, you’ll know.”
The truth hit Aster like another bullet.
McClennon.
That’s Jerrod McClennon.
That statesman said he was after us and here he is.
“G-go,” Aster stammered to Clementine. She threw a panicked look at the others. “Go.”
They turned and rode until the thunder of the falls fell away behind them.
* * *
“Are you sure that was Jerrod McClennon?” Zee asked the next morning. They had ridden through the night to be sure they lost their pursuers, and now, at last, they had stopped and dismounted under the trees to catch their breath.
Aster tried not to wince as Tansy cleaned her torn cheek with alcohol and stitched it up. The tug of the thread sent spikes of pain through Aster’s face.
“It was him,” she said through gritted teeth. The memory of Baxter’s lifeless face was so clear and sharp in her mind that it had been impossible to miss the family resemblance. Not to mention—“He said his family wanted answers. He must be a McClennon. And Jerrod is the one that man said followed us out of Green Creek.”
Mallow rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Which one is he again? The bastard who owns all the mining camps or the bastard running for governor?”
“The one running for governor. Baxter’s uncle.”
“Ripping hell.”
“If he wanted to kill us, he would have,” Violet said grimly. She was clenching her hands into fists and releasing them, over and over, sweating as she did when she was craving Sweet Thistle. “They’re going to take us alive.”
“They’re not going to take us anywhere,” Aster growled.
“We’ll wish we were dead.”
“That’s enough.”
They all sat in silence for a moment. Aster looked at Clementine, who was curled up with her knees to her chest. Her stubborn smile had fallen. She had been close to silent for hours.
“Clem,” Aster said more softly, “this isn’t your fault.”
“How isn’t it?”
“It’s my fault,” Zee said, shaking his head. “I never should have let them get that close.”
“Listen, this is McClennon’s fault, and no one else’s,” Aster sighed. Yesterday had been such a beautiful day in a beautiful place, and they’d all let their guard down. Swimming in a clear lake, stealing kisses in the forest, swapping stories by the fire … like the paradise beyond the Veil, the paradise they deserved.
And then McClennon and his raveners had tried to drag them back to hell.
He’d better hope, for his sake, we don’t cross paths again, Aster thought.
Next time, he would be the one getting stitched up. She would see to it.
12
Three days later, they struck the town of Scarcliff.
By now, they had their robbery routine near perfected. Five guns in any man’s face was usually more than enough to make him compliant, and the brag they’d jumped last night had surrendered the moment he saw they had him surrounded. Still, as they sat around their camp the next morning and counted the shine they’d stolen from him, Aster couldn’t help but feel a worm of frustration working through her.
She could already see it wasn’t going to be nearly enough.
“You said he was a bank manager?” Aster asked Zee. It was a scorcher of a day, and her shirt clung suffocatingly to her sweat-soaked skin. The shade of the mountain pines offered precious little relief.
Zee nodded. “Told me he just started up at the Scarcliff branch a couple weeks ago,” he said. “I talked to every man in the reception room. He ought to have been the riche
st one there.”
Before this last robbery, they only had about 750 eagles to show for all their efforts—they were over halfway through the Scab but nowhere near their goal. At this rate, they were never going to make it to five thousand eagles by the time they got to Northrock.
And so as they’d approached Scarcliff, Aster had told Zee to find the wealthiest man in the welcome house, rather than simply going with the first one he could convince. It had been a risk, Aster knew, asking him to spend so much time in the welcome house and let himself be seen by everyone there. But their situation was growing desperate. She couldn’t close her eyes without seeing McClennon’s thin-lipped smile.
And as long as they had these favors, there would be no escaping him.
“… Thirty-two eagles, total,” Mallow announced, looking up from the pile of coins with disgust.
Aster cursed, scratching at her cheek where Tansy had stitched up the bullet wound. Where were all the brags who boasted about carrying hundreds of eagles at a time? Had that all been empty bluster?
“All right, but what about his watch? We can sell it,” Clementine suggested hopefully.
“It’s a piece of shit,” Violet said, throwing the pocket watch into the pile. “Fake gold. Cheaply made. I don’t know why he was so attached to it.”
Besides his coin purse, the only other valuable they had found on the brag was his watch. He had begged them not to steal it, claiming it was a family heirloom. He’d pleaded for the watch more desperately than he had his own life.
Aster had taken it anyway, just on principle.
“Look, obviously it’s not going to be enough to keep robbing brags, even if they’re bank managers,” Mallow said impatiently, sweeping the coins back into the purse. “Next time we ought to just rob the whole ripping bank.”
Tansy huffed a laugh.
“Speak sense, for the sake of the dead,” Violet scoffed.
“No, wait, maybe she’s onto something,” Clementine said, her eyes lighting up. “Think, we could get the rest of the shine we need and then some.”
“Banks are guarded by lawmen, and the shine’s locked up in a safe,” Zee said carefully.
But Aster’s mind was spinning with the possibilities. If they could get past the lawmen somehow, if they could break open the safe … they’d never have to rob another brag again. They could make straight for Lady Ghost in half the time it’d take them otherwise.
And a hell of a lot of landmasters would lose their shine.
That would certainly wipe the smile off that bastard McClennon’s face.
“We should at least talk about this,” Aster said. “We’re running out of time, and we’re running out of options. Did you get a good look at the bank in Scarcliff, Zee?”
“Slow down, hear? I don’t think this is a good idea. I think—”
Maybe it was the heat beating down on Aster’s neck, maybe it was the sickening pain lacing through her cheek, or maybe it was the frustration curdling to a trapped-animal fear in her gut, but she had no patience for Zee telling her what to do. His life didn’t depend on finding this shine.
“I didn’t ask you what you thought, Zee. I asked you about the bank in Scarcliff,” Aster snapped.
A flush of red bloomed beneath the brown of his cheeks. Violet snorted, but Clem shot Aster a dirty look.
“Go on, what were you going to say?” Clem asked him.
“I just think we need to be more cautious now than ever,” Zee mumbled. “Yes, I got a good look at the bank in Scarcliff, but trying to rob it … there’s too much you can’t control, too much that can go wrong.”
“Well, unless you have a better way for us to come up with over four thousand eagles in the next week, we don’t have a choice,” Aster argued.
“I bet the bank won’t be guarded as heavily at night,” Tansy said, perhaps trying to broker a peace. “Breaking in after dark has to be less of a risk than trying to hold it up during the day, right?”
“Yeah, but the shine will still be locked up in a safe,” Zee replied. “And we don’t have the tools to break into it or take it with us. This is a dead end, Aster.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” Aster persisted. “Look, it’s true that if we take this risk, we might get caught. But if we don’t do something, we’ll definitely get caught. We need that shine to help us disappear.”
Zee set his jaw. “It’s too dangerous.”
A plume of anger rose in Aster’s throat. She climbed to her feet. “I need a word with you,” she said through her teeth.
“Leave him alone, Aster,” Clementine said sharply. “He doesn’t have to be a part of this if he doesn’t want to.”
“Now.”
Zee and Clementine shared a look, a wordless conversation passing between them. Aster’s anger flared even hotter. But then Zee stood up and let her lead him out of the campsite. Little brown crickets jumped out of their way as they stepped through the underbrush. A slender black grass snake slithered out of their path.
Once they were out of earshot of the others, Aster stopped and faced Zee, crossing her arms.
“I know you mean well, Zee,” she began, straining to keep her voice even, “but when you challenge me, you only make things worse. I don’t have time to convince you to help us. You just need to do it.”
He sighed and took his hat off, wiped his forehead with his sleeve. His skin was glazed with sweat. “I know, and I’m sorry. But I can’t let you get us into something we can’t get out of.”
“There is no us, Zee,” Aster snarled, stepping forward. “You don’t have a bounty on your head. You don’t have a favor on your neck. You can walk away from this. We can’t. This is just a job for you. But for us, this is life and death. So you don’t get a say, hear?”
“You talk like I have nothing to lose,” Zee said with exasperation. His energy had seemed bottomless from the day they’d met him, but now, finally, he was beginning to show signs of exhaustion. “I have people to look out for, too, you know. How am I supposed to ever find my sisters if I get caught robbing a bank? How am I supposed to provide for them if I’m a wanted man? You say this is just a job for me, that I can walk away, but it’s not, and I can’t. This job is the best chance I have at saving my family.”
Aster faltered, watching as Zee began to pace back and forth.
“If that’s how you really feel, then why have you been helping us rob the brags?” she asked defensively.
“Well I wasn’t exactly happy about it, was I? But it felt like the right thing to do in the end. Robbing a bank, though … it’s one step too far. You have no idea how hard I’ve worked to avoid a criminal life. My father, he sacrificed everything to finally get our family out of our dustblood debt. I can’t afford to get us back into it.”
“That only happens if we get caught, Zee. But we won’t. Because we can’t.”
He stopped pacing. Looked at her levelly. Aster sighed, relenting.
“We’re going back to Scarcliff to rob that bank,” she said. “But if the whole thing makes you that uncomfortable, you don’t have to come with us. You can wait out here, have the horses ready so we can make a quick getaway. You shouldn’t go back into town anyway. People might remember you from last night.”
Zee hesitated. “Do you really believe that, or are you just being nice to me because Clementine told you to be?”
Aster’s temper flickered at the mention of her sister. “I really believe it. But while we’re on the subject, I’ll let you know I don’t appreciate you using Clem to team up against me.”
“I’m not using her, I’d never—” Sudden understanding dawned on Zee’s face. It shifted to sympathy. “Is that why you’re so upset, Aster? You’re … afraid of me still? Afraid for your sister? Because I promise you I’d never hurt Clementine. You’re the only one who could understand how much I care for her.”
Aster tightened her jaw. Don’t you dare compare us. You’ve known Clem for two weeks. I’ve loved her since the day she was bor
n.
But no. That wasn’t the point she needed to make. Aster swallowed the last of her anger.
“I just want the best for Clem, same as you want the best for your sisters,” she said softly. “Listen, Zee … I know you’re risking everything to help us, and I’m sorry if it ever seems like I don’t appreciate that. I do, more than I know how to say. We never could have made it this far without you. But I need you to trust me on this one, all right?”
Zee was silent for a moment. He slid his hat back on his head.
“Wait outside with the horses,” he said, a hint of his smile returning. “I reckon I can manage that.”
Aster’s shoulders dropped with relief. “Thanks, Zee. Truly. Let’s get back to others and start planning how we’re going to do this—”
Mallow crashed through the underbrush, her face cracked in a grin.
“Sorry to interrupt, but you two have to come see this,” she said excitedly. “We figured out why that brag was clinging to his pocket watch so tight—there’s a slip of paper inside it with a string of numbers on it.”
Aster furrowed her brow in confusion. “So…?”
“So why do you suppose a brand-new bank manager would need to remember a bunch of numbers? And why do you suppose he’d be so afraid of someone else finding them?”
Aster and Zee exchanged glances. He seemed to realize it just as she did, his smile widening.
“That’s right,” Mal answered. “We reckon it’s the code to the safe.”
* * *
They spent the rest of the day preparing, setting out for Scarcliff a little after midnight. Now they stood at the foot of the town’s deadwall, a current of nervous excitement running between them. Rather than take their chances at the checkpoint, they were going to climb over the wall. From the far side of its scarred stone, the sounds of nightlife rose up like bubbles in a champagne glass. On the near side, vengeants cried out for blood, held back only by the glittering theomite dust in the mortar. Zee crouched over his iron grappling hook, double-checking the knot in the rope he’d tied to its end. Mallow restlessly flipped the chamber of her six-shooter open and closed, open and closed. Violet leaned back against the wall, staring up at the stars. She’d just had her dose of Sweet Thistle for the night, and she was the calmest of them all.
The Good Luck Girls Page 15
