Hunted [The Flash Gold Chronicles] (3 page)

Cedar pointed to footprints in the mud under
the thermometer.

“Sebastian?” Kali guessed.

“Different prints.” Cedar waved to the deep
boot marks on the other side of the door, where Sebastian had stood
to lean inside. The new ones were no larger than Kali’s own
footprints. “Judging by the stride length, the person sprinted
away.”

Kali peered up and down the street, wondering
if anyone had seen the eavesdropper.

The covered boardwalks fronting the log
saloons, gambling halls, and boarding houses were empty. A horse
team pulling a wagon struggled with deep mud in the nearest
intersection, but the drover, busy with his whip, did not glance
her way. Nor did any of the people conversing on the wood porch in
front of
Gamgee’s Mercantile & Liquor
give any indication that suspicious folk had been about.

“I’ll see if I can track him—or her—down,”
Cedar said. “Want to pack whatever you’ll need for the trip and
meet me at the claim office in an hour?”

“That depends,” Kali said. “When we take down
Cudgel, am I getting fifty percent or a finder’s fee?”

“I’d like your full help for Cudgel, which is
worth half of the five-thousand-dollar bounty.”

She swallowed. Twenty five hundred dollars?
With that kind of money, she could order brand new parts instead of
scrounging for used pieces and putting them to creative new uses.
She could even hire people to help her assemble her airship. Within
the year, she could finish it and be sailing south, over the
mountains and far away from icy, dark winters where the sun did not
shine for months.

“An hour to get ready?” she asked. “Who needs
that much time? I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes.”

Cedar lifted two fingers to the brim of his
hat in salute and trotted toward the end of the building where the
prints disappeared around the corner. He paused. “By the way...the
ladies at the dancing hall
like
my stubble.”

Before she could decide if she wanted to
retort, he jogged out of sight.

* * * * *

Kali squished through the mud, her bulky
packsack bumping on her back. She crossed Main Street and headed
for the wooden steps of the claim office. Piles of dirty gray snow,
sunken and melted like candle wax, hunkered against its walls.
Dwindling icicles dripped water from the eaves, vexing people
striding along the boardwalk below.

Layers of clothing served as a method of
identifying newcomers. Natives who had suffered through the long
frigid winter welcomed the cloudy skies and forty-degree
temperatures with rolled-up shirt sleeves, while those fresh to the
Yukon were bundled in scarves and jackets against weather that had
to seem nippy for May.

“Kali!” came Cedar’s voice from above.

He, too, had gathered his gear, and he
trotted down the stairs with a packsack and rolled blankets riding
on his back along with rifle and sword. He joined her at the base
of the steps.

“Good news. Sebastian Bosomhall’s claim is
diagonally across the river from Wilder’s. We’ll be able to observe
the enemy camp.”

“Good,” Kali said. “I guess.” She struggled
to find enthusiasm for working with Sebastian again. Maybe one of
the claims directly adjacent to Wilder’s would consider hiring
them.

Cedar cleared his throat. “
Bosom
hall?
That’s his name? You’re fortunate his marriage offer wasn’t in
earnest. That’d be a curse of a surname to have hung around one’s
neck.”

“I’m still waiting to learn
your
name,
MK,” she said, citing the letters etched on the inlay of his
Winchester. “If you were to file for a claim, what would you write
down? Assuming the claim is only binding if you use your legal
name.”

“Since I’m not filing for a claim, there’s no
need to speak of it.”

“Why don’t you tell people? Is it
embarrassing? Do you believe sharing it would concede some power
over you to someone else?” Her mother had believed that, but
perhaps it had been a truth for her. She had possessed otherworldly
powers few understood. Kali preferred to think it was that talent
that had driven her mother mad enough to kill herself—not
disappointment in her only child.

“I don’t use it anymore. What’s important now
is that we can move forward with this task. If we leave now and
walk fast, we can get to Bosomhall’s claim today. From there, I can
spy on John Wilder and—” Cedar clenched a fist, “—find out where
Cudgel is.”

Kali let him drop the name issue, though she
planned to pry the secret out of him someday.

“Did you find our eavesdropper?” she asked as
they squished down the muddy street toward the river beyond. A road
meandering past the docks would take them out of town and toward
the claims.

“No. I followed her for several blocks, which
was difficult since she seemed cognizant of being tracked and chose
well-traveled streets.”

“
She
?” Kali asked.

“I thought the tracks might belong to a boy
at first, but hips give a gait a distinctive sway, usually
identifiable in one’s footprints.” They turned to follow the
waterline. “The tracks left town and veered into the trees. The
trail ended behind a hill where two lines gouged a snow drift. Logs
might have rested there, or boards. They were parallel, like a pair
of large skis. Ideas?”

“I...no.”

“Coincidence perhaps. She may have taken to
the trees. I chose to return for our meeting instead of scouting
further.”

“Good.” Kali stopped before the last dock. It
sported a tiny log boathouse. “A girl likes to hear that a man
would rather turn his back on intrigue than miss a scheduled date
with her.”

Cedar tilted his head. “I returned because
the possibility of finding Cudgel is my priority.”

“I see. I’m incidental.” She strode onto the
dock.

“No, I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t
important. I—where are you going?” Thumps sounded as he jogged to
catch up with her. “I’ll keep an eye out for this woman. If she’s a
threat to you, I’ll protect you. Or I’ll watch your back while you
hurl smoke nuts at her and shoot her. Whatever you wish.”

“So long as Cudgel isn’t around?”

“Kali...”

She stopped in front of the tiny boathouse
door and lifted a hand. “Relax, I’m not angry. I know Cudgel’s your
life’s quest. And I’m just... Look, I appreciate that you humor me
by listening to me prattle about my work. Not many people want to
have anything to do with me.” And if she wished he might be more
than a business partner, well, that was not something she should
wish for.

“I don’t humor you,” Cedar said. “I’m
interested in your work. Especially when you’re making weapons and
explosives. And modifying my rifle.”

She smiled. That did seem to tickle him. She
had modified the loading mechanism on his Winchester to work like
hers, automatically chambering a new round after the first bullet
fired. She wondered what those dancing hall ladies thought when he
insisted on sleeping with the rifle.

“And I’m currently interested in why we’re
standing here. The mining claims are that way.” Cedar pointed
upriver. “Unless you intend to steal a boat?”

“No, I made a deal with a fellow who lost his
fishing boat last fall. I fixed his furnace in exchange for free
rent.”

“Free rent for what?”

“You’ll see.” Kali patted her pockets. “Uh
oh, did I forget the key?”

“It doesn’t look like you forgot anything.”
Cedar’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he nodded at her lumpy,
bulging packsack. “Except a blanket. Or did you intend to share my
Euklisia Rug?” he asked, naming his fancy bedroll. “To further the
guise of us as lovers?”

Heat flushed her cheeks. “No! I mean... I
just assumed since Sebastian offered employment, he would provide
the basics.” Dear Lord, this plan
would
involve her having
to back up her thoughtless proclamation. Possibly for days. One
ill-considered word. She groaned.

“You needn’t appear so appalled,” Cedar said.
“I’ve been told I’m a fine companion. True, my face is a little
battered, but I make up for it with what’s beneath my clothing.” He
smiled, but it faltered immediately. “I didn’t mean anything lurid
by that. Just that some women have suggested my physique is
pleasant to, uhm, need help with that lock?”

Kali shook her head and dug out a couple of
fine tools. Quicker to pick the lock than run back through all that
mud to the workshop. “I’m sure you’re fine.” More than fine. “I
just don’t sleep with men whose names I don’t know.”

“Ah.”

If she had thought her statement would
motivate him to reveal his name, she was mistaken. He merely
watched her until the lock thunked and she pushed the door
open.

“Huh,” he said.

“What?”

“You can pick locks.”

Kali shrugged and walked into the boathouse.
“I can
make
locks. Picking them is easy.”

“Remind me not to throw you in shackles.”

“Is that something you contemplate often?”
Kali untied a tarp draping a chest-high, six-foot-long object that
rested not in the water but on the dock.

“Not...
often
.” Cedar smiled and lifted
a finger, as if he might say more, but the words changed to a gasp
when she removed the tarp, revealing the machine beneath. “Whoa.
What is
that
?”

The reverence in his tone warmed her far more
than the spring weather, and she forgot his fumbled words on the
dock.

“Just a little hobby,” Kali said. “You know
I’ve been antsy waiting for the parts I ordered to come upriver.
I’m calling this a self-automated bicycle.” Few bicycles had tires
that thick and rugged—or a smokestack for that matter—but it was
close enough. “It’ll take time to heat up the boiler, but it can
take us up the trail at ten to twenty miles an hour, depending on
the terrain. We can be at Sebastian’s claim in time to watch him
cook us supper.” She pointed at the broad seat. “I made it big
enough for two.”

Cedar touched the head-high smokestack rising
from the compact boiler in the back, then slid his hand along the
sturdy black frame. “It’s fantastic,” he breathed.

Kali grabbed a shovel from a coal bin in the
corner, intending to load the firebox, but Cedar took the tool from
her.

“Allow me,” he said.

“If it’ll make you feel useful.”

“Your gratitude always warms me.”

Kali smirked. “Are these the times you start
thinking of shackles?”

“Maybe.”

Her humor faded. “Cedar, I’d like to ask a
favor before we go. Can I give you something to hold for me? I, of
course, figure I can handle myself in a brawl, especially if I have
my tools, but I don’t believe an army could get through you.”

Cedar, a shovel full of coal poised in the
air, tilted his head, eyebrows raised.

Kali checked outside the door to make sure
nobody was lurking on their dock, then fished a tiny bundle out of
her pocket. She unwrapped two vials filled with golden flakes that
pulsed with soft yellow light.

“With the help of my model, I’ve done some
calculations,” Kali said, “and I don’t believe I’ll need the entire
brick you saw to power the airship. I shaved off some flakes in
case I need to use them on something to help you with Cudgel.”

Cedar gazed not at the gold but at her face.
“I’m not quite clear on what your flash gold does but I know it’s
precious, especially to you. I appreciate this gesture.”

“It’s a power source,” Kali said. “More than
that, it’s...well, it has properties. You can imbue it with
commands, sort of like teaching a dog to sit and stay. Nothing
fancy, mind you, and not a long list, but, a sample as large as my
brick could accept a series as complicated as a punchcard program
for a loom. My father was working on even more complexity when he
died. He was always disappointed I couldn’t...”

A whistle of steam escaped from the vent. The
bicycle was ready.

“Never mind.” Kali pressed the vials into
Cedar’s hands. “Take care of them.”

“I will,” he said.

The self-automated bicycle or SAB, as Kali
shortened it to in her mind, chugged over the uneven trail, its
broad tires thus far handling the roots, rocks, and snow patches.
The mud was more problematic, but it thinned as they climbed away
from the morass pooled beneath Dawson.

The sun came out, dappling the forest floor,
and Kali found herself enjoying the trip. The road narrowed to a
trail following the river, and she and Cedar had to duck periodic
branches, but that did not bother her enough to tear the grin from
her face. So far the SAB was doing well on its first
expedition.

The wildlife seemed less enthused with the
machine. Whenever it neared, shrubbery thrashed as critters fled
the trail. A part of her hoped a stubborn moose would stand in
their path, staring them down, so she would have an excuse to try
the steam horn.

“When do I get to drive?” Cedar asked a
couple of miles into the trip.

“When you build one of your own,” Kali said
over her shoulder.

She was trying to ignore him and the fact
that her lack of handles or grip bars for the rear passenger meant
he had to use her to hold on. The sensation of hands resting on her
waist—and twice all the way around her when they ascended a steep
incline—was not...unpleasant but it made her think of things
unrelated to mechanics and steering. Things that were wholly
inappropriate, given that they were on a quest to find and kill
someone.

“Do you still not trust me fully?” Cedar
asked. “Or are you simply unable to relinquish control over your
devices?”

She smiled. The latter, of course, but...
“How can I trust a man with so many secrets?”

“Are you referring to my name again?”

“That and other things. Aside from those
brief revelations at my old workshop when you were trying to enlist
my aid against Cudgel, you’ve never spoken about yourself.
You—”