CHAPTER 22
At
the mining camp Jake handed one of the former prisoners, a teenager, a weapon.
“Keep an eye on the trail. You see
anything move, shoot,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” said the gypsy boy as
he trotted to the edge of camp where he
could watch the trail into the valley.
Jake
watched the boy for a moment with a far-away look.
Joshua would be about his age, he
thought. Then he noticed the ground
ahead of the boy begin to move.
The boy
was not paying attention to the trail as he examines the weapon. Jake rushed
forward and tackled the surprised teenager, knocking him away from the smoldering
ground and yanked him back. The boy saw the transformation of the ground taking
place and knew what it was.
They
sprinted away just as the ground erupted into a gigantic blue geyser, which proved
beautiful and deadly as the plants around it turned black and burst into
flames.
The boy
looked at Jake, thankful but embarrassed. Nothing needed to be said. They watched
a moment as the geyser died as quickly as it had erupted. Jake nodded for the
boy to move out.
“What now?” Tibbs said as he nodded
toward the others, “They can’t stay here.”
“For once I agree with you, Tibbs,”
Jake said then turned to Elana. “How far is that outpost?”
“Escalante?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Half a day’s walk.”
“How many people are there?”
“A few dozen, maybe more. Why?”
“They have weapons?”
“Yes, some do.”
Jake looked at October. “What do
you think?”
October studied the path below
their camp. “They’d have to pass down there to follow us,” he said. “If you watch our back, we can make it.”
Tibbs stepped forward to protest. “Hey,
what about—”
“About what, Tibbs?” Jake cut him
off.
“We’ll need every gun in case they
decide to come up after the—” Tibbs caught himself and eyed the others, his
paranoia and distrust building. “We just gonna let them go? They might tell someone.”
“For god’s sake, Tibbs!” October
exploded. “If you’re worried about the
ore, you can have my share. These people
are way beyond caring about your precious treasure. They just want to get out of here alive.”
Tibbs seemed for the moment to
realize the idiocy of his statement.
“You’re right, of course. Don’t know what I was thinking.” He looked at
Jake. “Whatever you want to do.”
There was no way Jake could trust
Tibbs, but he didn’t have much a choice.
“Tibbs and I will stay here and cover
you down the trail,” he said. “I know how Amasunto thinks. He’s a fugitive. He won’t stay in one place long. Besides, his men know his dining preferences. They won’t want to be out here alone with him
any longer than they have to.”
“Do you want me to bring
reinforcements back here?” October asked.
“No. We won’t be staying much longer.” He nodded
at Tibbs. “We’ll bring your share to Escalante with us.”
“Don't stay too long, Jake,”
October said as he shook Jake’s hand and added as an afterthought, “You too,
Tibbs.”
“Yeah, sure. See ya,” Tibbs said irritably.
“Be careful... Mr. Lane,” Elana
said.
Jake smiled. “It’s Jake.”
She gave him a little smile.
Jake nodded to her as October
gathered the kids and the three men and the teenager as they moved on down the
trail.
Jake grabbed his weapon and headed
in the opposite direction. In the
distance, he could see that Amasunto’s campfire was blazing brightly. He turned
to Tibbs. “I’ll take the first watch.
Relieve me in four hours.”
“Right,” Tibbs said, adding under sotto
voce, “Always think you’re in charge, don’t you, Lane. We’ll see about that.”
Jake settled in
behind a rocky ledge above the trail. He
set his weapon up, aiming so as to get maximum angle on the trail in each
direction. He raised the binoculars to
his eyes and even though he knew what he might see he was shocked at the sight.
“Bon appétit, you sick bastard,” he said as he watched the body of the convict
turn slowly over the fire as his mortal enemy, Amasunto watched hungrily.
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