and this squaw dead as dead can be if we have to, and not feel a twinge of regret after the deed is done.”
“Regret, hell,” Cutter said. “Me, I
Blue Water Woman had calmly picked herself up and resumed kindling a fire. She did not curse Cutter or even glare at him.
I marveled at her self-control. My own was not nearly as superb. When I could sit up straight, I asked, “How do you propose to get your hands on this gold that doesn’t exist?”
“That is where you and this squaw come in. I will tell you all about it once we have a fire going and coffee on.”
I could think of nothing else to say beyond a few choice comments about their character and intelligence, but insults were bound to earn me more pain so I sat in a funk until flames crackled and the aroma of brewing coffee filled the air.
I sat close to Blue Water Woman, inwardly resolved to leap to her aid if they tried to hurt her again. Jess Hook sat across from us. His brother and Cutter stood well back, Cutter near the horses, so they could thwart any escape attempt.
“Now then,” Jess said with that mocking smile of his, “suppose we get down to business. We want the gold, but we’re willing to be reasonable.”
“You call
“So long as you and the squaw get to go on breathing, I would say so, yes.”
“Do not call me that,” Blue Water Woman said softly.
Jess glanced at her. “What did you say?”
“Do not call me squaw. I have a name.”
“So what if you do? To us you are nothing but a stinking redskin. We will call you whatever we damn well please, and you’ll keep your mouth shut.” Jess waited for her to reply. She didn’t. He grinned and said, “Now then, where were we?” He turned to me. “It’s simple, really. The squaw stays with us while you ride down and tell her husband and the Kings to hand over the gold or they will never set eyes on her again.”
I had suspected something like this. “You are despicable.”
“Keep giving me guff, fancy pants,” Jess said, “and you’ll have to do your riding with a broken finger or two. Do you want that?”
I did not.
“Good. Then in a bit you will head out. Cutter will follow you to make sure you go straight to the lake. Try anything, and we kill the squaw. If her husband or the Kings try anything, we kill the squaw. Make it plain to them. If there’s so much as a whiff of trouble, we kill the squaw.”
“I daresay if you harm her, Shakespeare McNair and Nate King will not rest until they have hunted you down and exacted their vengeance.”
“They don’t scare us none,” Jess said. “McNair is tough, but he’s as old as Methuselah. And so what if Nate King has killed a lot of grizzlies? Bears don’t shoot back.”
His brother chuckled.
“Tell them they are to load the gold onto packhorses, and then you are to bring it up to us.”
“Why me?” I asked.
“Because you’re harmless.”
I have been insulted before, but that one caused me to burn with resentment. I was on the verge of saying something that would undoubtedly anger him when Blue Water Woman cleared her throat.
“May I speak?”
“Sure, squaw,” Jess Hook said. “What is on your mind?”
“Why involve my husband and the Kings when there is no need?”
“You know a better way?”
“I will take you to the gold myself.”
“What?”
“You have been right all along,” Blue Water Woman said. “There is gold, and plenty of it.”
Chapter Fourteen
I was stunned. I had believed her when she said there wasn’t any gold. Now to find out she had lied crushed the esteem in which I held her.
“My husband and I only have enough to fill a parfleche,” Blue Water Woman was saying. “But I can take you to where he found it. I can show you the vein. You can dig out all you want. Enough to make all of you wealthy. What do you say?”
Jess Hook’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why so generous all of a sudden? Why the change of heart?”
“I do not want my husband harmed. If he finds out you have me, he might try to save me. But if I show you the vein, we can keep him out of this.”
“That makes sense,” Jordy Hook said.
“I have two conditions,” Blue Water Woman informed them. “The first is that once you have your gold, Robert Parker and I are to be set free.”
Jess smirked. “Like I said, I can be reasonable. What is the second?”
“As I asked you before, that you stop calling me squaw. To me that is an insult. Either use my name or do not call me anything.”
Cutter started toward her, growling, “Uppity red bitch.”
“Now, now,” Jess said, holding up a hand. “Let her be. She’s making things easy for us, so it won’t hurt us to go easy on her.”
Jordy Hook said, “It won’t kill you to be nice until we get there.”
Cutter stopped, but he was not happy. “Exactly how long will it take, anyhow?”
“Good question.” Jess looked at Blue Water Woman.
“Five days,” she said.
“It’s not somewhere close?”
Blue Water Woman extended a finger toward the south end of the valley. “The vein is high on a mountain, at the base of a cliff.”
“And how did your husband find it?” Jess asked. He did not sound convinced.
“He was searching for signs of a pass. We found one to the west and Nate King set off a keg of powder to close it.”
“Why in hell would he do that?”
“So anyone who might harm us cannot enter our valley without us being aware. We want only the one way in and out.”
“Have you seen this vein with your own eyes?” Jess asked.
Blue Water Woman nodded. “The gold is mixed with quartz, but there is more gold than quartz”
“How much, would you say?”
“I do not know how far in the veins goes,” Blue Water Woman said. “But one band of yellow is as long as I am tall, and as wide as this coffeepot.”
“Sweet Jesus!” Jordy exclaimed.
“We’ll be richer than John Jacob Aster,” Jess said.
Cutter cursed and glanced sourly at each of the brothers in turn. “Lunkheads. I am partnered with lunkheads. So what if she shows us the vein? How do we dig the gold out? With our fingers?”
Jess stiffened. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Set your minds at ease,” Blue Water Woman said. “My husband did not want to keep taking his tools back and forth so he cached them near the vein. A pick and shovel and other things.”
“Perfect!” Jordy declared. “Just perfect!”
