“Good. Then I want to know where this Clementine is going. ”
Crutchfield’s lips stretched into an expression of relief. “Oh good,” he sighed. “I actually know the answer to that one. The bird’s headed to Louisville, but I don’t know why, and I can’t tell you any more precise than that—not for the rest of your roll—because nobody’s told me. ” He collected the stack of bills that must’ve counted a couple hundred dollars, and licked the tip of his finger to help him count it. “And I must say, it’s a pleasure doing business with you. ”
“Likewise,” Hainey muttered.
He took Simeon by the arm and led him away, speaking quietly. “The bird’s headed to Kentucky, and ain’t that a stinker. ”
“Not a Reb state,” Simeon said, as if it were a bright side.
“Not technically, no. But a border state that’s Reb enough to be unwelcoming. Louisville’s up on the river though, practically in Indiana. It’s not the worst news, and not the best news, but it’s news. ”
“You think he’s on the level?”
The captain said, “I wouldn’t trust him to sort my laundry for free, but for a stack of green I think he’s solid enough. It’s how he makes his living, and he’s not a young man. If he were full of malarkey, someone would’ve killed him by now. ”
“You’re full of sense, sir. ”
“Let’s get back to the engineer and see what he’s scouted for us. It’s past midday now—”
“Not by much. ”
Hainey said, “No, but I want to clear town sooner rather than later. ”
The first mate made a little laugh. “You’re not worried about that Rebel woman, are you?”
The captain didn’t answer immediately, but when he did he said, “I’ve heard about her. I’ve heard a lot about her, mostly in the papers and partly through gossip. As far as I know she’s no dummy, and if half of what’s
said about her is true, she’s not afraid to shoot a man if she feels the need. ”
They reached the street and turned to the right, strolling towards the service docks and maintaining a casual pace. Hainey continued, “She was just a girl when the war started—maybe sixteen or seventeen, just a baby. But she didn’t have a lick of fear in her, not anywhere. She’s been in prison a few times, been married a few times, and killed a few fellows if they interfered with her. And these days,” he toyed with what he was thinking, then laid it out. “She’s only a little younger than me. Maybe in her forties. A woman who was that much trouble as a girl, well—now she’s had twenty-five years to learn new tricks. ”
Simeon was silent.
Hainey said, “I’m not saying we ought to turn tail and run like dogs. I’m just saying that maybe it’s not an insult that she’s been picked to chase us down. Maybe we ought to keep our eyes open. ”
“Do you know what she looks like?” Simeon wanted to know, but the captain didn’t have a photograph handy and he wasn’t sure he could pick her out of a crowd, anyway.
He said, “As I’ve heard it, she’s not much to look at—but she’s got a figure you’d notice if you were blind and ninety. ”
“Not much to look at?”
“Yeah. It’s been said,” the captain mumbled, lowering his voice as they passed a pair of men cleaning a set of six-shooters in front of a saloon. “That she was young once, but never beautiful. ”
“Sons of bitches, up there in Chicago,” the first mate said, pulling tobacco out of his pocket as if he’d only just remembered he had it. He flipped a paper loose with his thumb and started to roll a cigarette. “Can’t even send a pretty woman after us. ”
Hainey didn’t answer because further discussion might’ve made him look paranoid, or weak. Simeon came from another place with its own set of problems, to be sure; but he wouldn’t have understood, maybe—how nothing on earth summoned a mob with a noose or a spray of bullets quite like a lady with an accent, and a problem with the way she’s been looked at.
Even a look, misinterpreted or even imagined.
And it had been decades since Croggon Beauregard Hainey had been a young man in a prison, accused of incorrect things and condemned to die; but that didn’t make the memory of it any easier to ignore or erase. So yes, all insistence to the contrary—and with the Rattler, and his men, and a full complement of guns stashed across his formidable body—he was more than a little concerned about a Southern woman with something to prove.
At that moment, a shy head ducked around the corner where Crutchfield stood on a stoop and conducted business. It was the same boy Hainey had threatened the night before, and he looked no less threatened to be standing in front of the captain once again.
“Sir?” he said, stopping both men.
Hainey snapped out of his reverie enough to ask, “What is it?”
“Sir, you have a telegram. It’s from Tacoma. ”