I go to pull off Smith’s boots when Carolina Jones’s tiny pistol cocks back with a click. “Miss McKeene, as one of the stewards of this wagon train I’m going to ask you once more to leave off—”
The man’s tone grates, so I draw my merrymaker and point it at him. “Mr. Jackson—excuse me, Jones—I do not care if you are the mayor of Sacramento. This is my bounty—what’s on the body, and the body itself—and I will dispose of it how I see fit. Now clear on out before I have to make a bolder statement than that. I’d hate to have to ruin those lovely mustaches.”
“Well, you’re about as reckless as ever,” comes a low voice.
I turn to find none other than Sue, standing a little off to the side.
“Sue,” I say, my voice low.
I am certain I want nothing to do with this happy reunion. Katherine was enough on her own, but now Sue . . . I am not quite in control of myself, and my breath comes quicker than I’d like. I drop my arm back to my side, burying the tip of my pistol in the dirt. A wave of longing and sadness buries me, months of suppressed emotions, and I damn near burst into tears. I spent so long thinking everyone was dead, that I was the last Miss Preston’s girl left in this whole miserable hellscape. It was easier that way. Because then I didn’t have to lie awake at night wondering if they were safe, or if they’d turned shambler. “Why must you vex me as well? I already have Katherine over here looking at me like I murdered her puppy.”
“Seems to me like you would if there were money in it,” Jones says, disgust lacing his voice.
I give him a hard look. “You have no idea who I am, sir.”
“You running bounties, now?” Sue says in her same easy manner, as though there ain’t a year and change and most of a continent standing between the last time we saw each other.
I gather myself, stand and holster my pistol, ignoring Mr. Jones, who stares at me like a wild cat has managed to talk. “It’s a great way to survive as long as you don’t mind killing.”
Sue tilts her head at me.
“Jane, this man has been tortured,” Katherine says, finally speaking.
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “Things happen.”
Tomás comes running back, Salty on his heels. Katherine takes a step forward, looks at the boy and the dog, and steps back to where she was, moving a little bit behind Sue. I ain’t sure why, but that bit of indecision breaks my heart just a little. I ain’t so changed from who I once was. I just have a purpose beyond survival, now.
I should probably thank Gideon Carr before I plug him. He gave my life meaning I didn’t know I needed.
I take the blanket from Tomás and begin to wrap up Smith’s body. “I don’t suppose any of you have a horse and wagon I could borrow to get this body to the closest town?” I’m not of a mind to head back toward San Jose, but I will if necessary. Now that I have the kid tagging along with me I can’t exactly sleep in the back room of a brothel or any ditch that seems safe enough. It’s boardinghouses and legitimate hotels from here on out. And those cost money.
For a moment, I miss Callie desperately. She could explain to Sue and Katherine how I ended up here, the weeks of sickness, learning to adapt without my left arm, teaching myself to re-center my weight in a fight and wield a falchion. I’d spent months honing myself into a weapon in order to make the trip overland, and the journey itself had only sharpened my edge. At Miss Preston’s I’d been a pistol. Now I was an artillery cannon.
But Callie ain’t here.
Someone clears their throat. It’s the man who’d been examining Smith when he came to. I’d forgotten the man was even there. “Miss McKeene, we haven’t been properly introduced, but I am Dr. Cornelius Nelson. If I might be so bold: if we were to help you transport this body to the nearest sheriff, would you perhaps consider riding with us to Sacramento? I believe I have some oil cloth that might help preserve the body from pests. And with murderers like this man about, and the occasional shambler a constant threat, we could use a woman of your skills on these treacherous roads.”
“Ain’t no one said the man was a murderer,” Jones says.
“And who else in this wild country have bounties upon their head?” the doctor asks. “He was most likely a ne’er-do-well in any case.”
“If this man even had a bounty on his head,” Jones says, giving me a hard look.
Either way, I do need to get this body to a sheriff, and I was heading to Sacramento in any case.
If this ain’t Providence pointing me right at Gideon Carr, then I don’t know what else it could be.
“Deal,” I say with a pointed look to Carolina Jones. It would take time and money to transport Smith’s body on my own, and both come at a premium these days. And traveling with a wagon train will be much safer than walking overland by myself, especially as I have Tomás to consider. He might be tough, but no child is prepared for what this life can bring.
“We’d best talk to Juliet and Louisa before making any additions to the security detail,” Jones says, and I know he and I ain’t about to be friends anytime soon. He’s put his peashooter away, but even in the low light of the single lantern we’ve been jawing by I can tell he’s got a mighty big dislike for me.
Good. I ain’t fond of pushy men, either.
“I do not think there will be a problem,” Katherine says, her voice low. “We are shorthanded as it is, and things will only get more dangerous as we get closer to Sacramento and head up into the mountains.”
“Mountains?” I say. I want to know what Katherine is thinking, but her horror has finally melted away and her expression is worthy of a seasoned gambler. “I thought you were headed to Sacramento?”
“We are,” Sue says. “But after that we’re going to a town for Negroes, place called Haven.”
The town name freezes me, and I have to take a deep breath to steady myself. Haven, the town where my momma and Auntie Aggie are supposed to be. For a moment I consider what that reunion might look like, and the happy thought dies a violent, fiery death. If reuniting with Sue and Katherine is any indication, seeing my mother again would be a heartbreak.
“Well, then, when the sun comes up I’ll talk with your Louisa and Juliet about joining up with y’all. Doc, you’ll see to this?” I ask, gesturing at Smith, who seems to be finished leaking out into the dirt.
He nods. “Most assuredly.”
“Don’t go dissecting the man like I know you butchers are wont to do. I won’t risk getting shorted on my bounty because you want to take an up-close look at his spleen. He’s already lost enough of his brains, after all.” It’s a terrible joke, but the horrified expressions are worth it.
I tip my hat at the rest of the gathered assemblage. “Sorry to have disturbed your rest. I hope to more properly make acquaintances in the morning. Katherine, Sue, good to see you looking well. Tomás,” I say, turning and jerking my head back toward the dark.
“Jane, wait,” I hear Katherine call, but I ignore her. I have had more than enough feelings for a single day. I stride away decisively, out of the light of the wagon train and back into the comfort of the shadows, Tomás and Salty at my side.