Hunted

PART II

The self-automated bicycle or SAB, as Kalishortened it to in her mind, chugged over the uneven trail, itsbroad tires thus far handling the roots, rocks, and snow patches.The mud was more problematic, but it thinned as they climbed awayfrom the morass pooled beneath Dawson.

The sun came out, dappling the forest floor,and Kali found herself enjoying the trip. The road narrowed to atrail following the river, and she and Cedar had to duck periodicbranches, but that did not bother her enough to tear the grin fromher face. So far the SAB was doing well on its firstexpedition.

The wildlife seemed less enthused with themachine. Whenever it neared, shrubbery thrashed as critters fledthe trail. A part of her hoped a stubborn moose would stand intheir path, staring them down, so she would have an excuse to trythe steam horn.

“When do I get to drive?” Cedar asked acouple of miles into the trip.

“When you build one of your own,” Kali saidover her shoulder.

She was trying to ignore him and the factthat her lack of handles or grip bars for the rear passenger meanthe had to use her to hold on. The sensation of hands resting on herwaist-and twice all the way around her when they ascended a steepincline-was not…unpleasant but it made her think of thingsunrelated to mechanics and steering. Things that were whollyinappropriate, given that they were on a quest to find and killsomeone.

“Do you still not trust me fully?” Cedarasked. “Or are you simply unable to relinquish control over yourdevices?”

She smiled. The latter, of course, but…“How can I trust a man with so many secrets?”

“Are you referring to my name again?”

“That and other things. Aside from thosebrief revelations at my old workshop when you were trying to enlistmy aid against Cudgel, you’ve never spoken about yourself.You-”

A shadow fell across the trail-a largeshadow.

“What’s that?” Kali slowed down.

It disappeared as quickly as it had come, andbeams of sunlight found the forest floor again.

“A cloud?” she asked.

“No,” Cedar said.

Yes, that had come and gone too quickly to bea cloud. Eagles were common in these parts, but that had been toolarge a shadow to indicate a bird.

Kali stopped the SAB and dropped her feet tothe ground. Spruce and pine branches created a latticeworkoverhead, impeding the view of the sky.

“An airship?” she asked, thinking of thepirates who had attacked her in the dog sled race monthsearlier.

“I don’t think it was that big,” Cedar said.“And it moved quickly for an airship. Listen.”

With the chugging pistons of her vehiclestilled, Kali could hear more of the sounds around her. No hint ofbird chattered cheered the forest. Something else sounded in thedistance however. Faint clacks and clanks.

“Some sort of machinery?” Cedarsuggested.

“Hm.” The sounds were already fading, as ifthey belonged to a vehicle driving-or flying? — away. The idea seemedpreposterous. Who up here besides her made such things? Thetownsfolk of Dawson, while not quite as quick to curse her and callher a witch as those of Moose Hollow, thought her peculiar and herinventions doubly so.

The sounds faded altogether, leaving theforest silent except for the soft rumble of her own vehicle’sidling engine and the rush of the nearby river.

“Maybe it’s nothing,” Cedar said. “We couldbe close to a claim where people are using steam machinery.”

“Or maybe somebody’s hunting me,” Kali said.When she had left Moose Hollow, she had not told anyone where shewas going except her friend Nelly, and nobody had attacked hersince she arrived in Dawson. Given the proximity of the two towns,and the size of the bounty on her head, she was surprised it hadtaken this long for anyone to find her.

“A possibility,” Cedar said.

“Should we take any precautions?” she asked,willing to concede to his wisdom when it came to matters ofbattle.

“Yes.”

“Such as?”

“You should let me drive so I can familiarizemyself with the workings of the vehicle.”

She glared over her shoulder and found himsmiling.

“Are you truly using the possibility of a newand dangerous enemy to further your argument for why you should beallowed to play with my bicycle?”

“If we’re attacked,” Cedar said, his smilewidening, “and there’s an incident rendering you unconscious, Ishould know how to work this contraption so I can port you back tocivilization.”

“You needn’t look so excited at the prospectof my incapacitation.”

“I merely believe in being prepared. May Idrive?”

“No.” Kali shoved the lever that controlledthe speed, and the SAB surged forward. “If I’m knocked out, wavesmelling salts under my nose. I’ll rouse myself enough todrive.”

They continued onward for another hour,navigating around mud puddles and horse droppings on the trail.Twice more Kali heard the clanking sound in the distance, thoughwhatever was making it did not venture close enough to be seenthrough the evergreen canopy. Nor did another shadow darken thepath.

They came to the edge of a meadow with theburned hull of an abandoned log cabin hunkering in the middle. Halfits roof had caved in, and the door hung from a single, rustyhinge. Drifts of snow framed the clearing, though it had melted inspots touched by sunlight, leaving patches of matted deadgrass.

The trail passed through the meadow, butCedar gripped her shoulder before they entered it.

“Stop here,” he said.

“A likely ambush point?” she guessed.

“Yes.”

Kali gazed at the unimpeded expanse of skybefore them. “I am reminded of the open area where that airshipattacked us on our last outing together.” She eyed the sky again.She did not hear any of those clanks at the moment, but…

“While I’d enjoy driving this,” Cedar said,“I’d prefer you be conscious at the time in order to give meinstructions. Can we go around the clearing and stay under thecover of the forest?”

She eyed the shrubs and brambles growingbetween the trees. “Not unless you want to cut a path with yoursword.”

“I don’t cut vegetation with my blade. Itwould take an hour anyway. It’s not that big of a clearing. We’llchance it.”

“If you say so.” Kali eased the SAB into themeadow. “I suppose if you’re wrong, there’s always the chance anassailant will target you first. You are larger and moremenacing.”

“I prefer I be conscious for my firstdriving lesson as well,” Cedar said. “And I’m dangerous, notmenacing.”

They had traveled less than a third of theway into the clearing when the clanks sounded. Kali should havegroaned and sent an irritated eye roll to the heavens, but hercuriosity distracted her. She wanted to see the source.

She did not have to wait long.

A metallic…contraption with giant meshbutterfly wings bobbed over the treetops. The clanks grew louder asit approached the meadow, and moving machinery came into the view.The wings flapped in synchronization with the clanks. Kali cranedher neck, searching for another source for the craft’s propulsion.The large wings might keep the flying machine aloft once it gainedmomentum and found a place in the air, but they could not provideenough thrust to carry it into the skies. Could they? The metalframe appeared too sturdy to be light, and a compact furnace andcopper boiler behind the pilot’s seat must add significant weight.Could magic be involved? Or even…flash gold? Was it possiblethere was more out there?

Kali’s fingers twitched at the idea ofclambering about the thing, investigating every inch. The ridersitting at the controls might object. Wrapped in brown, headincluded, the figure was impossible to identify, though from theslightness of the form, Kali guessed it might be a woman. The onewho had eavesdropped on them? Goggles covered the person’s eyes,making it impossible to read her face, though Kali had a sense ofdetermination.

“…faster?” Cedar was saying.

“What?” Kali had been so focused on the airvehicle and its pilot she had missed his words.

“Can’t you go faster? She’s aiming forus!”

Before she could answer, a rifle shot firedbehind her ear. She flinched and nearly lost grip of thehandlebars, a calamity that would have pitched them oversideways.

She glanced back as Cedar fired a secondshot. “What are you doing? She hasn’t even-”

Something thumped to the earth ten metersbefore them.

Cedar grabbed Kali’s arm. “Veer away. Veeraway!”

More on instinct-and his orders-than out ofunderstanding, Kali pulled and pushed on opposing handles andleaned into a hard turn. They skidded as wheels ground on old snow,but they caught, and the SAB sped to the side.

A concussive roar filled the clearing, andrealization pelted Kali. No, that was shrapnel. It clanged off theSAB and hammered against the charred side of the log cabin.

Kali turned again, figuring the structurecould provide cover. “She’s hurling grenades at us?”

“From a launcher in the front,” Cedar said.“It appears to be some sort of crossbow-like device, loadedwith-”

Another grenade hit the ground, this oneexploding right away.

Kali sped behind the wall of the cabin andyanked on the braking mechanism.

“-multiple projectiles,” Cedar finished.

Rifle in hand, he hopped off the SAB. Kalihesitated, reluctant to leave her vehicle for fear it would make aneasy target if it was stationary. She probably ought to be moreworried about being a target herself, but the idea of losing such arecent invention…

Cedar leaned around a corner of the cabin tofire again. Kali nudged the SAB into motion, rounded the othercorner, and found the doorway. She considered the width. Could shefit her vehicle inside? Probably not.

Above, the flying contraption tilted,circling the end of the meadow to come back at them.

Cedar grabbed Kali’s arm. “Inside!”

“I don’t think it’ll fit,” she said.

“I meant you!”

The flyer flew closer, and Kali hesitatedagain, fascinated by the wings, the construction, and even thepilot. Was she the creator? Or had she merely purchased it?

The projectile launcher fired again.

“Kali!” Cedar pulled her toward the door.

Kali barely had time to grab her packsack andrifle.

An explosion rocked the earth, and shegrabbed a log wall to keep her feet under her. Metal clanged asshrapnel hit the SAB. She growled, her awe over the steam flyertamped down by her concern for her own vehicle. She dropped herpacksack and readied her rifle.

Shadows danced on the earthen floor of thecabin as the flyer soared overhead. Rhythmic clanks echoed from thelog walls. Though the fire-damaged roof held copious holes, thevehicle sped past too swiftly to target.

“We need a plan,” Kali said. “She’ll becoming around again.” And she would probably hurl the next grenaderight in the cabin.

Cedar loaded a fistful of bullets into hisrifle. “Yes?”

“The wings seem a potential target, but theirsurface area is great, so I doubt even a couple of dozen bulletholes would cause them to falter. A catastrophic boiler explosionwill derail any steam engine, but engineers are well aware of thatweakness and build them soundly. I doubt a bullet would pierce theplating, but it may be the most vulnerable part of the machine.Perhaps we should target the boiler and hope for the best.”

“I was just going to shoot the pilot,” Cedarsaid.

“Oh. I guess that could work too.”

When the clanks of the flyer grew louderagain, Kali and Cedar stepped outside. She dropped to one knee andleaned around the corner of the cabin, rifle to her shoulder. Cedarstood above her, his weapon poised as well.

Something that looked like glass providedprotection for the pilot, probably a deterrent to bugs and rain,but surely it would not stop a bullet. Kali eased her rifle up andplaced the woman’s head in her sights. Her gut lurched at the ideaof shooting at someone with the intent to kill-especially if thatsomeone had invented that fascinated machine-but the womanwas trying to blow them up.

Her finger found the trigger, but Cedar,doubtlessly with fewer qualms, fired first.

The bullet struck the protective shield infront of the woman’s eyes, and her head dropped out of view. Theflyer lurched sideways and dipped toward the trees.

“Bulls-eye,” Cedar said with grimsatisfaction.

But the flyer did not crash. Its noseelevated, and the craft skimmed the treetops. It knocked branchesfree with cracks that rang through the forest, but it soon flewhigher again, out of danger. The flyer banked and turned backtoward the meadow.

The pilot’s head was visible again throughthe clear shield. Concentric cracks ringed the spot where Cedar’sbullet had struck, but it must not have penetrated.

“Amazing,” Kali breathed. “There’s no waythat’s glass. Unless it’s extremely thick, but the weight would beridiculous, and a flying machine would need to be light, like aneagle’s hollow bones. It’d…”

She trailed off when she noticed Cedar’sglare. He seemed less amazed at the invulnerable shield and moreirked.

“Sorry,” Kali said.

“Let’s go back to your idea,” he said as theflyer drew closer again. “You said I should aim at the boiler?”

Kali eyed the shield again. It protected thepilot to the front and the sides, but it was open on the top.Presumably the woman entered and exited the control seat fromthere. It left her no protection from projectiles from above,though she had no reason to anticipate weapons fire from overhead.Air vehicles were rare, and the flyer was quicker and far moremaneuverable than an airship, so it could easily evadeballoon-based transport.

When it came in for another pass, Cedarloosed a few ineffective rounds at the boiler. Kali considered thestructure of the craft, especially the supports for the wings,supports that angled upward behind the pilot. She closed her eyes,remembering problems she had worked through in her father’smathematics books. At the time, she had been trying to win hisfavor by showing interest in his studies. He had been too busy tonotice, but she remembered many of the lessons, and a chapter ofgeometry problems involving balls on a billiards table came tomind.

“Same principle for bullets, right?” shemurmured.

“What?” Cedar asked.

“See that support beam behind her?” Kalipointed. “You’re a better marksman than I am. Can you see if youcan hit it…hm…about a foot above that joint?”

Cedar threw her a bewildered look, but heraised his Winchester and aimed when the flyer came into range. Itbobbed toward them, a grenade ready in its launcher. Cedar grewstill, then fired.

The bullet ricocheted off the angled supportpost and slammed into the back of the pilot’s shoulder.

This time she screamed-the first sound shehad voiced-and the craft lurched. It sped off, wobbling as itskimmed the treetops. The nose came up briefly, but it droppedagain, and Kali lost sight of the flyer. A thunderous crack soundedin the distance.

“Crash,” Kali murmured, imaging the twistedwreckage. She wished they could have downed the vehicle withoutdestroying it.

“Crash,” Cedar agreed without any of herregret.

Kali leaned her rifle against the logs,jumped, caught the corner of the roof, and wriggled herself up top.Conscious of the fire damage, she stayed over the stout supportbeams as she crept to the peak. Though the trees still towered overher, the added height let her see smoke wafting in the distance.Definitely a crash.

Had it killed the woman? Her shouldersslumped with regret at the thought. It was silly, given the pilot’sinclination toward killing her, but Kali hoped the woman hadsurvived. She ached to talk to her, to find out more about thecraft.

A touch on her shoulder brought her attentionback to the cabin. Cedar stood beside her.

“Good thinking,” he said.

“Er, yes, sorry it was slow to come. I wasn’texpecting to come face-to-face with…” Kali groped for a way todescribe her feelings. Would he understand and forgive her forbeing so distracted? Or would he, the professional bounty hunter,believe there were no acceptable excuses?

“Your mechanically inclined twin?” Cedarasked. “Yes, that must have been surprising. And intriguing.”

Kali let out a sigh of relief. He didunderstand.

“Intriguing, yes.” She wanted nothing morethan to hop down from the roof, sprint into the forest, and findthat woman. “Any chance you’d like to delay our trip to Sebastian’sclaim to go check on that smoke and question this woman if she’sstill alive?”

Cedar gazed into the woods, not toward thesmoke, but upriver, toward the claims. With one of the Cudgel’sallies nearby, he must feel the pull of his quest more than ever.But someone who had staked a claim was not going anywhere any timesoon.

Perhaps the same thoughts spun through hishead, for he sighed and said, “Yes, we should check the wreckage.If the woman recovers, she may come after you again.”

“Me? Are you sure she’s not after you?Perhaps she’s some ex-lover you irritated, and she’s been planningfor years to take her revenge.”

“I don’t irritate my lovers.” He hopped offthe roof.

“Just business partners?” Kali climbed downafter him and gave him a smile to let him know she was joking.

Cedar did not return it. Helooked…glum.

“Maybe there’ll be a bounty on her head, andit’ll be worth the side trip,” Kali said.

Cedar grunted and pointed at the SAB. “Therewon’t be a trail to the crash site. Think that can maneuver throughthe forest?”

“It’d probably get stuck in the snow orundergrowth,” Kali admitted, feeling a twinge of envy for theflyer. If she had an air-based vehicle, she wouldn’t have to worryabout such pesky things. Someday, she promised herself, thinking ofher airship design, though she was already wondering if the flyermight inspire modifications.

“Let’s walk then.” Cedar shouldered hispacksack, and they set out.

A branch swung back and smacked Kali in theface. She grunted and scraped spruce needles out of her hair. They,along with twigs, leaves, and sap, already provided her braid withmore decorations than a totem pole.

“I know I mentioned this before,” Kali said,“But you could cut some of this undergrowth with yoursword.”

“One does not use a high quality, importedJapanese katana to whack weeds,” Cedar said.

“It came all the way from the Orient? Youmust have paid a fortune for it. Perhaps, to justify thatsubstantial investment, you should use it for more than slicingpeople’s heads off.”

He slanted her a dark look over his shoulder.“I got it from Jiro, one of my early mentors. We were hunting afellow who’d massacred a family in Florida when Jiro got shot inthe leg. He said I wasn’t experienced enough to go after the man onmy own; I was sixteen and figured I knew plenty. I left him to adoc and tracked the cutthroat all through the swamps. Nearly lost aleg to an alligator, but I got my man. Jiro said he’d been wrong,and I was ready to hunt on my own. He retired and gave me thekatana to put to good use.”

Kali knew Cedar had traveled, but she had notrealized how much. Even though a sane person would probably not beexcited by stories of swamps and alligators, her heart ached withlonging to see such places.

“Alligator tussle, huh?” she said. “Must haveleft a giant scar.”

“Yup.”

“Can I see it some time?”

“Reckon so.” Cedar glanced back, hisexpression lighter this time. A glint in his eyes suggested herinterest pleased him. Men always liked to show off war wounds.

Kali dodged another branch whipping back inthe wake of his passage and resolved to stay farther behind. Smokethickened the air, though, promising they were close. She had tosquash an urge to lean to the side or bounce up and down so shecould see around Cedar. At one point, she tried to slip past him,but he blocked her with a gentle nudge. Being protective, washe?

Flames came into view, licking bark andnibbling spruce needles high up in trees. Broken branches hung fromseveral trunks, but metal glinting on the forest floor drew Kali’sgaze downward.

She could not muster caution, and she dartedpast Cedar, this time evading his protective grasp.

Less wreckage than she expected scattered theforest floor. The vehicle’s wings drew her eye first. The fall hadmangled them, warping the framework and tearing holes in themembrane. Kali rubbed the unique mesh between her fingers. Thoughcool and sleek like metal, it had a lightweight, sinuous natureunlike any alloy she knew about. She wished she could talk to themaker, discover what exactly this was and how to make it. Already,she could think of dozens of uses for it.

She slipped her knife out and cut a sample totake home.

A shadow fell over her shoulder, and Kalijumped. But it was only Cedar, rifle at the ready, guarding herback.

Still crouching, she surveyed the rest of thewreckage. “Where’s the furnace, the boiler, and the entire bottomof the flyer?”

“Where’s the woman?” Cedar asked.

“Yes, that’s a useful question too. Maybe thebottom half broke off from the top and landed somewhere else?”

He left her side and scouted the crash site.Only a few seconds passed before he stopped, pointed at the ground,and said, “No.”

Kali joined him. A pair of long, thindepressions gouged the spruce needles, mud, and snow. They headedinland in a straight line.

“These are the same width and depth of thelines behind the hill outside Dawson,” Cedar said, “except thosewere short and didn’t continue into the forest.”

The smell of freshly cut wood mingled withthe smoke, and Kali spotted broken branches on either side of thetracks. Some had been snapped, but other larger ones were sawnoff.

“Brilliant,” Kali breathed. “The lower halfmust be a ground vehicle that can work without the top half.” Shehad a hard time tearing her gaze from the tracks. Even the hewnbranches impressed her-the vehicle must have some sort offast-working saw created for brush clearing. She hadn’t thought toadd that to her bicycle. “Cedar, I think I’m in love.”

“With the vehicle or the woman who wants tokill you?”

“The vehicle, one hundred percent. Thewoman… It depends on if she’s the person who made the vehicle ornot.”

“I doubt she’ll prove lovable if she worksfor one of the gangster’s trying to collect the secrets in yourhead.”

Kali sniffed. “Nobody like that would workfor a gangster.”

“You seem certain about a great number ofthings for someone so young and untraveled.”

“What great number of things?” sheasked, annoyed to be reminded she had been so few places. Thatwould change one day soon.

“The motives of villains. The fact thattracking is so easy a hound can do it.”

Ah, so that comment still rankled him. It hadbeen unfair of her, but she had trouble admitting when she waswrong. “That’s only two things.”

“If we mean to track her down before dark, wecan’t loiter.” Cedar strode up the center of the broad trail.

“What are you doing?” Kali blurted.

“Walking?”

“Up the middle of the trail? If I waswounded, and I thought someone was following me, I’d booby trap themost obvious route. We might get hurt if we presume it’s safe toamble up the hill after her.”

“You have an alternative proposition?” Histone held a struggling-for-patience edge.

He probably didn’t appreciate her telling himhow to track. But this person was dangerous, maybe far moredangerous than the usual thugs he hunted down. He might needher help.

“Maybe we can guess where she’s going andavoid the tracks.”

Cedar waited, arms folded over his chest.

“She may have transportation,” Kali said,“but clearing the undergrowth will slow her, and we did shoot her,so she’ll need to stop to tend that wound soon.”

“Likely.”

“Do you have a map?” she asked.

Wordlessly, Cedar removed his packsack andwithdrew a compass and map.

Kali unfolded the latter. Her people hadcamped up and down these rivers when she was growing up, and sheknew the area well, but she wanted to see the overheard viewpointsince their attacker would have been watching the world fromabove.

“Maybe this ridge.” Kali tapped a stony grayterrain feature on the hand-colored map. “There are caves up there.Should be about three miles from here. I know a trail that heads upthere. It’s out of our way, but it should be faster than cuttingthrough the brush, especially since someone won’t deign to use hisfancy pig sticker-”

“Katana,” Cedar said.

“Right, since someone won’t use his katanafor brush clearing, it’ll be better to go the long way. It’ll putus up on top of the ridge where we can look down from above andmaybe sneak up behind her.”

She caught Cedar gazing into the woods again,not toward the ridge or the direction of the tracks, but toward theriver and the claims.

Kali returned the map. “This won’t take long.We’ll capture her and still make it up to Sebastian’s claim beforeit gets dark.”

“Hm,” was all Cedar said.

Late afternoon sun played tag with theclouds, though it did little to melt the snow on top of the ridge.Kali and Cedar knelt in a shadowy hallow, hidden from anyonelooking up from below. She scanned the hillside with a collapsiblespyglass, hoping to catch the smoke puffs of a steam engine. Ifthey were out there, the forest cloaked them.

“Do you see the tracks?” she murmured. “Ifshe drove in a straight line, she would have come out aboutthere.”

Her alternate route up had taken an hour. Hadthe woman already come through and gone? Or was she hiding in acave?

A creek meandered down into the valley, andKali checked up and down the shoreline. It seemed a likely placefor an injured person to stop for water and to attend a wound. Thetrees hid much, though, and even from the high ground, she couldnot see everything.

Cedar tapped her shoulder and pointed. Sheshifted the spyglass, thinking he had spotted their opponent. Hewas pointing out a doe and her fawn, down from the hills todrink.

“Cute,” Kali said, though she was moreinterested in finding the woman. They would have to go down thereand… She could feel Cedar’s gaze upon her. She lowered thespyglass. “What?”

He lifted his eyebrows, and she had a feelingshe had missed something.

“You were pointing at the deer weren’tyou?” she asked. “I didn’t miss… Oh. Mama probably wouldn’t beroaming around down there with her baby if a human was nearby.”

“Especially a human driving a noisy,steam-powered contraption.”

“You don’t think she made it this farup?”

He did not answer, and Kali did not ask theother obvious question, whether he thought they had wasted timedetouring out of the way.

“She was wounded,” Kali said. “Maybe shecouldn’t continue this far.”

“What’s next?” Cedar asked.

Kali chewed on the inside of her cheek. Hewas letting her take the lead, maybe being nice…maybe giving herthe rope to hang herself. She had asked for it, though, hadn’t she?After stopping him earlier, she could not bring herself to ask himto take over now.

“How about we follow the creek back downtoward the crash site?” Kali suggested. “Maybe we’ll find she camepart way up to the ridge and stopped to deal with her injury. Ifshe turned a different direction, we’ll probably still come acrossher tracks.”

Cedar held out a hand, palm up. Yes, she wasstill the leader.

As they traipsed downhill, picking a tediouspath between trees and through undergrowth, Kali grew aware of thepassing minutes. Every time the sun poked through the clouds, hershadow grew longer and thinner where it stretched across the forestfloor.

Where were those cursed tracks?

Now and then an animal would startle in theunderbrush, and she’d jerk her rifle that way, half-expecting theiropponent to jump out at them. Each time Kali would chastiseherself-if anything, that woman would lob grenades at them from adistance, not attack at close range-but she remained on edgenonetheless.

“Kali.” Cedar pointed toward a muddy stretchof land to their right. The parallel tracks of the woman’sdevice.

Kali jogged to the spot. “Huh. Good eye. Iwasn’t expecting them this far over.” She turned to get herbearings. The ridge stood over a mile away now, meaning they werealmost halfway back to the wreckage. She sighed. Prudence bedamned. She had wasted a lot of time trying to second-guess thewoman. “They’re paralleling the ridge now, aren’t they?”

“Appears so.”

She gave him a flat look. “I know what you’redoing. You’re hoping I’ll be proved wrong, that tracking isn’t aseasy as I claimed.”

“Shall we follow them?” Cedar asked. “Or doyou still fear booby traps?”

“Follow,” Kali said, eyes narrowed. “Butlet’s keep our eyes open.”

“As you wish.”

The tracks only ran parallel to the ridge fora quarter of a mile. Then they surprised Kali by angling backtoward the main river and the route she and Cedar had been on whenthey were attacked.

Her heart lurched. “We’re heading back towardthe cabin.” And the SAB.

What if the woman, deeming her own transporttoo damaged to keep, stole Kali’s vehicle? While they were not sofar from Dawson that they could not walk, she hated the idea oflosing her latest invention. She had so many refinements she wantedto make. For one, a brush cutter was a brilliant idea. And shecould add an-

“Kali!” Cedar grabbed her arm.

She tumbled back against him. “What isit?”

Nothing stirred in the brush, and birdschattered in a nearby thicket. When she detected nothingout-of-place in their surroundings, she searched his face. He waspeering at the tracks a few feet in front of them.

“What’s that black rectangle?” he asked.

It took Kali a few seconds to find theobject. There, mostly buried beneath needles and leaves, laysomething flat and dark, the size of poker card.

“Back up,” she said.

When they had gone ten meters, she grabbed arock and tossed it at the object. Her projectile clipped thecorner. A boom thundered through the forest, and rock and dirt flewtwenty feet into the air, pelting branches overhead and landing allabout. Kali lifted an arm as shards rained down upon her andCedar.

“There’s my booby trap.” Kali had no reasonto be smug, not when she would have blundered onto it if Cedar hadnot stopped her, but being proven right about her hunch mollifiedher. The woman was someone to employ protectivemeasures.

“And now the owner knows exactly where weare,” Cedar said, an eyebrow arched.

“Oh.” Yes, that sound had probably beenaudible for miles. Kali closed her eyes. Idiot. “Guess we couldhave gone around it without detonating it.”

“Likely.”

She would have given him a lengthy glower,but she was worried about her bicycle. With an eye toward thetrail, she strode forward again. They passed-and avoided-three morebooby traps before reaching the cabin.

“There’s the SAB!” Kali blurted, relievedwhen it came into sight.

She kept herself from running over to checkit since the tracks led straight toward it. She and Cedar steppedcarefully, searching for hazardous deposits on the ground. Theyfound nothing more treacherous than a pile of bear dung, but Kalilingered a few feet from her vehicle without going close enough totouch it.

“Let’s be optimistic,” she finally said.“Maybe she knew we were after her and went straight through.” Shepointed to the tracks, which continued past the bicycle and backdown the road she and Cedar had followed up the river. It madesense that the woman would need to return to town to have her woundtreated.

“She stopped here.” Cedar pointed to theground next to the bicycle. “The tracks are deeper where thevehicle came to rest.”

Kali groaned. She spent the next fifteenminutes inspecting the SAB, checking all the spots she would boobytrap if her goal were to incapacitate someone’s steam vehicle.

Cedar spent the time leaning against a tree,cleaning beneath his fingernails with a knife. “Shall I set upcamp?” he asked at one point.

“No, but I wouldn’t mind something to eat, ifyou’re offering,” Kali said, her voice echoing oddly since she hadher head stuck in the furnace. The fire had burned out while sheand Cedar were roaming the hills. When he did not respond to hercomment, she withdrew her head and looked at him. “Oh, was thatsarcasm?”

His eyebrow twitched. “Possibly.”

He had to be getting impatient with this sidetrip. Might he be wondering why he had bothered to take her along?Aside from providing a mode of transport, what had she done toassist him? Even the transportation was of dubious worth. He wouldbe closer to Wilder’s claim by now if he had walked up thetrail.

Maybe they would catch this woman and findout she was some sort of super villain with a huge bounty on herhead, and that would make this detour worthwhile.

Kali climbed on top of the SAB seat. Thoughthe bicycle was a broad, sturdy contraption, it wobbled under herweight, and she kept a hand on the smokestack for balance. Shepeered inside it. And froze.

“What the blazes is that?”

“What?” Cedar strode over.

Something dark and lumpy nestled inside thesmokestack. It lacked the clean lines of the booby trap from thetrail and did not appear mechanical-or explosive-but Kali stared atit for a long moment before reaching an arm inside. Her fingerscame up a foot short. Her own body blocked the daylight when sheleaned in farther, and the bicycle seat wobbled beneath hertoes.

“I need help,” she said. “Can you hold me, soI can lean in farther?” She must sound ridiculous with her headstuffed in the smokestack.

Hands squeezed her waist, and she squawkedwhen Cedar lifted her off the seat so her feet dangled in the air.His firm grip had the steadiness of steel, though, leaving her moresecure than when she had been relying on her own balance. Thanks tohis height, Cedar could also boost her entire body above thesmokestack without trouble.

“Thanks,” she called, her voice supremelymuffled now. “I appreciate your strength and-” She inhaled soot andbroke into a coughing fit. The stuffy, hot environs pressed in fromall sides, and she could see nothing. Lingering smoke made her eyestear.

“My strength and what?” Cedar asked, hisvoice distant to her ensconced ears.

When she tried to speak, she ended upcoughing again.

“Ah,” Cedar said. “I’m to guess at the rest.I see. You appreciate my strength and…masculinity?”

The confines of the smokestack made movementawkward. Kali had to wriggle and twist to loosen a shoulder enoughto extend her arm to touch the obstruction. It was hard, lumpy, andfaintly sticky. It did not tick or whir or do anything to suggestmoving parts or a timer set to spark an explosion. More likely itwas there to stuff up the smokestack, which could cause anexplosion of its own volition if built-up exhaust could notescape.

“Strength and virility?” Cedar asked.

Kali felt around the edges of theobstruction, hoping she could remove it, but the solidified massstuck to the inside of the stack with the tenacity of a badger. Shescraped a sliver off and held it to her nose. Though the sootysmokestack made it hard to put her olfactory organs to satisfactoryuse, the gunk had a pungent identifiable scent. She groaned.

“No? Strength and good looks?”

“Pull me out,” Kali said.

“Not until you finish that sentence.”

“What?” She had barely been paying attentionto him.

“You appreciate my strength and what else?”Even though the smokestack dulled the nuances of his tone, she hadno trouble imagining the amused smirk on his lips. Better than thesarcasm, she supposed.

“Strength and willingness to grab myhindquarters and hold me aloft,” Kali said. “Now get me down.”

“Hm, I doubt that’s a trait unique tomyself.” Cedar lifted her free of the smokestack and lowered her tothe ground. The smirk she had anticipated rode his lips, and ittransformed into a full-fledged grin when he saw her face. “Youlook like one of the black gang on a steamship.”

“What?” Kali wiped her face. Her alreadysooty sleeve grew sootier. “Ugh. I’m losing my love for this woman.She’s starting to vex me.”

“Did you get the…whatever it is yousought?” Cedar asked.

Kali scowled. “No. It’s just pitch glue, butit’s wedged in there good. We can’t use the bicycle until I can getback to my workshop and find some turpentine or something suitablefor breaking the bond.” Kali jammed her hands against her hips. “Weshot this woman, Cedar. How could she possibly be spry enough toperform all these pursuit-delaying feats with blood gushing downher arm?”

“Human beings are resourceful and dangerous,doubly so when they’re desperate. Which is why tracking them isalways perilous and takes experience and expertise.” Cedar foldedhis arms over his chest. He must be employing great restraint notto add, “I told you so.”

“All right, I apologize for belittlingtracking,” Kali said. “I know your work is dangerous and hard, andI know a dog couldn’t do it. I was just…irked about the money,even though I knew you were right and I hadn’t done anything tocontribute, much as I haven’t done anything today.” She curled alip at herself. “I’m not…good at patience. I had hopes of gettingmy airship together this summer and escaping this place before Iwas stuck here for another dark endless winter of being haunted bymemories that are impossible to forget when you face constantreminders.”

Cedar lifted an arm and stepped forward, asif to hug her. Her eyes widened. She was just letting loose somesteam; she didn’t need a hug. What kind of female meltdown did hethink she was having?

He must have read her expression, for hedropped his arm before touching her. He clasped his hands behindhis back, and she wanted to kick herself. No wonder he had nointerest in going to the dancing hall with her. She was as warm andinviting as a glacier.

“We better go if we want any chance ofreaching Sebastian’s claim before it’s completely dark out here,”Kali mumbled. “Especially since we’re walking.”

“Do you want me to go after the woman? I candeal with her and meet you at the claim.”

“No, it looks like she’s heading back toDawson. Her annoying booby-trap skills aside, she’s still human, Iassume, and she’ll need time to heal and recover. I bet we can findher there when we’re done up here.” Besides, as good as Cedar was,Kali worried this woman might have tricks up her blood-saturatedsleeve that could thwart him. “And,” she added, “if I show up alonewith my bedroll forgotten, Sebastian might think I want to reunitewith him.”

“I assume you would be quick to disavow himof that notion,” Cedar said, but he was already heading up thetrail.

She caught up and walked beside him. “With myWinchester if necessary.”

“Good.”