Her heart seemed to hammer faster when she realized that Dan would judge them safe enough to approach. She had been hoping to see some menacing quality that would make him change his mind. No such luck.
“They look okay to me,” Cal said, breaking a very long silence.
“Better than I expected,” Dan answered. “Anything else you want to tel us?” He turned to eye Jack pointedly.
“Nope,” he answered.
Selena was too transfixed to raise a brow. If there was something Jack was keeping from them, it was not going to become evident anytime soon. Even the issues or history he might have with these people could not distract her now. Their inevitable approach loomed and she wished desperately that she could slow time. She tried to remind herself that Jack was not afraid of them, but she knew her fears were not al that rational.
“If anyone has anything to say, now’s the time to say it,” Dan told them. Maybe he was asking in the hopes that she would lose her nerve. Her mouth opened silently as she contemplated staying behind, but she knew she wouldn’t let him go alone.
When they al remained silent, Dan urged his mount forward. Selena steeled herself for whatever might come and fol owed behind.
With Jack to her left, Cal to her right and Dan in the lead, she should have felt much more confident than she did. Her wits were arguing with her instincts and for some reason the latter rang out much clearer, but it was too late reason the latter rang out much clearer, but it was too late to back out now.
They moved in the direction of the Grazers at a walk.
The rhythmic thumping of the horses’ hooves sounded suddenly surreal and although they moved slowly, the noise of the cattle seemed cacophonous within just a few heartbeats. The dry grass hissed against the horses’ legs as they marched forward uneasily. They too were unaccustomed to the din and visual chaos that grew before them. Buck was the exception. His bearing was eager rather than fearful. Selena wondered if each horse could sense its rider’s emotions. If so, she felt sorry for Star.
A wiry man on horseback issued a complicated whistle when he saw them. Moments later, four men joined him and Selena held her breath as the strangers rode out to meet them.
They came at a canter, each side by side, like a moving wal . If the idea was to intimidate, it was working, at least on her.
“Whoa,” the wiry man cal ed softly. They came to a halt when there was only ten feet separating the two groups.
“Is there somethin’ we can do for ya?” His tone was confident, but not menacing.
Selena peered around Dan meekly. The leader was tal and very thin, but he looked strong. His long, gaunt face held quick eyes and there was a grim set to his thin mouth.
A brief scan of the other four revealed that they were al equal y lean and sinuous. Their skin was leathery and tan, making their ages difficult to discern. Al these observations pointed to one obvious fact: their lifestyle was hard.
“We’re not here to cause any trouble and we wanted to make sure you weren’t going to either. Since it looks like your company is civilized, we’d just like to visit. We don’t get many new travelers and an operation this size has me curious.”
“Is that Jack Thompson?” the man asked, squinting as though he had trouble seeing.
“Bil ,” Jack said with a nod.
“Wel imagine that. You sure do get around, don’t ya?”
He turned his gaze back to Dan. “You known him long?”
Dan shook his head. “Not at al .”
“Huh,” came Bil ’s reply as he leaned down comfortably on his saddle horn. “Careful around that one,
‘special y you, miss. He’s a bit too persuasive, you might’ve noticed.” Now he squinted in Selena’s direction and the examination lasted just a little too long for her comfort. His four companions were eyeing her as wel . She glared back at them.
Dan studied Bil intently until he had the man’s attention again.
“Wel , I’m Bil . This is Ed, Chris, Tony, and Pete.”
“Dan. This is Cal and Selena.”
“Need your word that you’l al behave. You’re just a bit outnumbered,” he informed them with a look that was supposed to be a smile. “We don’t take kindly to disrespect.”
“Our word,” Dan echoed in agreement. “I’m speaking for three of us.”
“Of course,” Bil answered as he turned his mount to head back for the tents. “As for you, Jack, I think Roark has a dispute on a bet he made with you. I know Josie’d appreciate it if you would keep it peaceable.”
They al fol owed Bil in the direction of the camp.
The dust from the cattle had almost disappeared entirely as the wind slowed and changed course.
“I’l take it from here,” Bil told the other men who promptly turned and rode back to the cattle. Dan pul ed up beside Bil and just a neck behind.
“Got some questions, if you don’t mind,” Dan told him.
“Ask away. Then I’l tel you if I do.”
“What do you eat, aside from the cattle?”
“Don’t mind that question at al . They’re most of what we eat, but we have foragers that bring down game and find edible greens here and there. Got eight of them out now. Let me tel you, if those old farmers had any idea how much of their crops would grow wild after they were gone, I think they’d be mighty surprised. We rode through a mile of tomatoes a couple months back.”
Selena thought about that. The places she’d traveled didn’t have much in the way of surviving crops. Without irrigation, most of the plants that were farmed in those areas just died. The climate wasn’t right for them. She hadn’t considered that some areas were natural y suitable for what was grown there. Very interesting.
“So you don’t know what kind of food you’l have from one week to the next aside from the beef,” Dan said.
“That’s right. We cover a lot of ground though. We’ve got to. It’s feast or famine, nothing in between. ‘Course it’s never truly a famine since we’ve got the cattle. We’l live, but we won’t get everything we need in our diet for weeks or months at a time. It’s enough to live off of.”
By now, they’d reached the tents, and Bil wended through them. In every direction, there were people busying themselves with various tasks, but al watched curiously as the four outsiders rode by. A lot of whispers were exchanged by the women and young girls. The children eyed them curiously. Most of the men stared at Selena, a few of them offering a smile and nod in the way of greeting if she made eye contact. She began to feel numb to the overwhelming activity around her. It was simply beyond her ability to process, so it al began to feel like a dream.
Selena watched Dan as he rode in front of her. In this situation, as with every other, his confidence was absolute.
He was at his ease here as much as at home, though she couldn’t fathom how that was possible. Cal looked like he was trying to appear comfortable, which meant that he wasn’t entirely so. In Jack’s case, Selena couldn’t tel .
“How are the children with that?” Dan was asking Bil .
“They get by. Everyone gives them the best food first so they’l grow right. Sometimes it’s hard for them too.”
Dan was silent for a while. “I’d like to meet whoever it is that leads this outfit,” he final y said.
Selena knew he would, but she was starting to get anxious.
What in God’s name is he up to?
“That’s where you’re headed,” Bil informed him, gesturing at a particularly large tent towards the rear of their camp. While many of the other tents were probably used for recreational camping once upon a time, this was something different. Its dusty, white wal s held about the same amount of space as one of the Crater’s smal cabins.
“How do you move al of this?” Selena was surprised to hear herself wonder aloud.
“Got a few wagons to throw it into and we lash the rest onto the bigger cattle,” Bil answered, turning to look at her when she spoke. This time, his eyes didn’t linger impolitely.
When they pul ed up in front of the tent, Selena saw a single-file line of people standing at its entrance. They al stared curiously. A girl came forward to take their horses as they dismounted.
“Wait here,” Bil instructed them as he disappeared behind the tent flap.
Dan’s eyes continued to scan the scene around them. A feeling of smal ness washed over Selena. She couldn’t be more out of place here. Furthermore, she suddenly felt out of place at Dan’s side. He’d made up his mind to ride out to these people without the smal est explanation to anyone as to why, he’d planned to bring only Jack, and waltzed right in among countless strangers like he owned them. Selena had to stifle a little feeling of sadness that she was only involved with his intentions here because she’d forced her way in. After a moment of thought, she resolved that instead of wal owing in self-pity, she’d keep her chin up and have faith that things would soon become clear.
Jack pul ed a pair of daggers from his boots and tossed them on the ground as Bil reappeared out of the tent, fol owed by a middle-aged woman who went on her way.
“You can al go on in,” Bil told them. “But you have to leave your weapons here.”
The rest of them fol owed Jack’s example without hesitation. Evidently he’d been through this before. They didn’t want to leave the items unguarded, but the girl who’d taken their horses had returned.
“I’l see to them,” she promised.
“Thank you,” Dan said with a nod before striding into the tent. Cal fol owed and Jack gestured for Selena to go in ahead of him.
“The rest of you clear out and come back tomorrow,”
Bil was saying to the line of people.
Selena stepped inside and tried to take in as many of the details as possible. The flat ground was uncovered and consisted of the same trampled grass as outside.
Several locked chests sat clustered along the wal opposite the entrance and in the center of the room sat a wel -built man who looked like he was in his mid-thirties. His hair was dark brown and messy, with a short beard to match. His eyes were not unkind but clearly shrewd. Beside him was a blue-eyed woman with an angular face and auburn hair that fel to her shoulders in tight curls. She looked to have not an ounce of fat on her, and her wel -defined muscles were wiry, like Bil ’s. Her lips were too fine and her nose too narrow for her to be considered beautiful, but her eyes were lively and alert. Selena thought she could be in her late twenties or early thirties, but again, the sun-baked skin made it more difficult to tel . The woman sat in a tal , canvas, fold-out chair before a table, across from several identical chairs that were empty. The man stood next to his seat studying a map that was spread out atop the table. He looked up as they entered.
Evidently, they were not what he expected. He seemed to do a double take at Dan and then stared at Selena. She wondered if she would eventual y grow used to this.
“Evenin’,” the man final y said with a nod.
He was tal , Selena observed, but stil an inch or two shy of Dan’s height.
“Evening,” the four of them answered.
“Jack is back! Would you look at that Josie?”
“Not at the moment,” she answered, studying the rest of them instead.
“You and I are going to have a talk in a bit,” the man told Jack. It was difficult to tel if that was a threat. None of them looked overly concerned, including Jack himself.
“I’m Roark,” the man said, final y turning to face them directly. “Who might you be?”
“Dan Flynt. This is Cal Brice and Selena Cartwright.”
“Pleasure. Now if we’re passing through your land, rest assured we aren’t here to cause any harm. If our moving through here has made any trouble for you, we’re happy to make up for it if we can.”
“No, you haven’t done anything to bother us,” Dan assured him with a wave of dismissal.
“Then how can we help you? We’d normal y ask if you’re looking to join us, but I’m guessing you’re not in need of any help.”
“We’re just here to learn,” Dan explained. “Wanted to know a bit about how this operation works. Never seen a group this big before.”
“Wel fire away,” Roark told him as he settled back into his chair. “You al can have a seat if you’d like.”
The four of them did as they were bidden. Selena flushed, as she couldn’t hide behind Dan anymore, and took the chair between him and Jack. Roark, she observed, was subtly studying Dan. So was the woman, Josie, but not quite as subtly.
“Let me know if I’m wrong,” Dan began. “You live off the herd that you drive ahead. The cattle graze slowly so your children or elderly can keep up without too much trouble. You’ve got some foragers and sometimes you run into farmland and the crops that are stil on them. But you can’t stay anywhere for long because the cattle need a lot of grazing area. The more people you have, the more cattle you need. The more cattle you have, the more important it is to move.” He paused, giving them a chance to correct him. When they didn’t, he went on. “So my first question is how do you choose your path? Do you go by a map to see where the rivers are? Do you just hope there’s good grazing in the direction you choose?”
Selena could see that they were taken aback by Dan’s interest and thoroughness. How would they react?
She hoped there wouldn’t be any trouble. They seemed decent enough so far.
“That’s about right,” Roark said. “We won’t venture too far south because it gets too dry. We’l take our time if the grazing is good, so we stick around some areas longer than others. We do check the maps for the rivers.”
“Have you run into any rough spots where the grazing was bad?”
“Once in a while,” Josie answered.
“Have you lost people that way?”
“On the rare occasion,” Roark admitted, looking like
“On the rare occasion,” Roark admitted, looking like he was growing a little uncomfortable with the conversation.
“They’re stil better off with us than they were when we found them.”
“Of course,” Dan said. “Do you cycle back on the same areas or just wander?”
“A little of both,” Roark answered.
“Then I’m guessing you keep a good record of where you’ve been and where the grazing is good or bad,”
Dan said gesturing at the map on the table.
“Yes,” Roark affirmed, raising his eyebrows. “You’re a lot more curious than I expected,” he said slowly, leaning forward.