Hunter
Hunter folded the newspaper and set it on the table when he saw Sam and Cat enter the hotel lobby.
Cat pushed open the door herself, without waiting for Sam. Her lips were pinched and her eyes blazed.
Sam shook his head and followed Cat across the lobby.
The siblings had been fighting. Probably about me.
Hunter stood as they approached. “Are we ready to go?”
Sam nodded. “It's just us. Cat wants to take a bath.”
“Which I would highly recommend for both of you.” Cat smiled at Hunter, then walked to the desk clerk.
“We might as well get this over with.” Sam turned and headed back out the door.
Hunter glanced at Cat’s back as he slid his hat on his head, then he followed Sam out the door.
Sam waited on the walkway and pointed up the street when Hunter stepped outside. “There’s a stable a block down.”
When they reached the livery, they made arrangements with the stable master to have two horses tacked up for in town use for a few hours. In no time, they were in the saddle and heading toward Park Avenue.
“Did you do your map divining?” Sam asked.
Hunter grinned at his friend’s description of his odd power and use of the pendulum. “I did. Both last night and this morning. I think there are three individuals, all east of Denver. Two are moving quickly in this direction.”
From Park Avenue they turned right on Pence Street.
“It’s possible they will all return to Denver. If there’s a town hall here, they may have a current map of town. If they don’t, I’ll need to sketch one.”
“And if your bounties stay east?” Sam asked.
“Once they stop moving, I’ll track their location.” Hunter glanced at Sam.
Sam nodded. “If Harris isn’t at this house, Cat and I will head for his ranch this afternoon. We’ll have to camp out overnight. Sam laughed. “I’ll enjoy watching Cat sleep rough. I don’t think she’s ever sat around a campfire.”
“Your sister is something else.” Hunter smiled at the thought of Cat sitting in the warm glow of the fire.
“As you've said, more than once.” Sam looked over at Hunter. “I’ve been meaning to ask you what your intentions are.”
Hunter pressed his lips and shook his head. “I told her she could do better than me. I had nothing to offer a woman like her.”
“And what did she say?”
“She told me to fix it,” Hunter replied, and grinned when Sam laughed.
“Then I'm back to my original question ... what are your intentions?”
Hunter reset his hat on his head and chuckled. “I guess I better do as she says and fix my problem. Is there still an opening at the Marshal's office for a field agent?”
“There may be. I know they’ve asked about you before. They know you and consider you a good candidate for a position like this.” Sam winked at Hunter. “You come with a fairly high recommendation.”
“Fairly high, mon ami?” Hunter chuckled. “I'll send them a telegram this afternoon and see what they say. I want to have a permanent job before I ask to court your sister.”
Sam cocked an eyebrow at Hunter. “I thought you were already courting.”
“She doesn't take no for an answer.”
“Don't I know it?” Sam pulled an envelope from his pocket and checked the address. “It’s just ahead. The house being repaired.”
As Sam dismounted, a thin, balding man turned away from the construction work and greeted them. “Hello, gentlemen. How can I help you?”
“Are you Jason Harris?” Sam asked as they shook hands.
“No, sir. My name is Albert Fielding. I’m supervising Mr. Harris’s porch rebuild.”
“I see.” Sam returned the envelope to his pocket. “Is Mr. Harris available?”
“And you are?”
Sam pulled a leather wallet from his coat and showed Albert Fielding his badge. “Samuel Kline, U.S. Marshal. Mr. Harris may have some information on a case I’m investigating. Do you know where I can find him?”
Albert Fielding bobbed his head. “He and his wife left a couple of days ago for his cousin's ranch, east of here. The Harris-Highlands Ranch. You know of it?”
“I do. Thank you, Mr. Fielding.”
Hunter turned his mount as Sam stepped into his saddle.
They returned the horses to the stable, and Sam rented a buckboard wagon and team for several days. At the hotel, Sam advised the desk clerk he and his sister would be checking out. However, he expected to return in less than a week's time. Then, Sam went to tell Cat they would leave for the ranch today.
After Sam left, Hunter turned to the small lobby to wait. He looked up from his paper when he heard Cat’s voice. She gave the desk clerk her room key, and requested a bellhop fetch her trunk to the lobby.
When she turned, her gaze found Hunter’s and she walked toward him with a smile on her beautiful face.
What does a woman like her see in me?
Even dressed in her travel-weary outfit from the train, she moved with regal bearing.
He rose to his feet as she approached.
“We’ll be leaving soon.” She took the seat across from him.
“Sam said you could be back in five days.”
Cat nodded. “Will you be here when we return?”
“I'm not sure.” He wanted to say yes, but the lives of those he hunted were at risk. “If I leave to follow a lead, I will leave a message for you at the desk.”
“A message for me ... or for Sam?” Cat’s eyes asked questions he couldn’t answer yet.
“Mon beau petit chaton, any message I leave at the desk will be for you.” Perhaps he would hear back from the Marshal’s office before she returned. Until he had more to offer her, he didn’t want to give her false hope.
Sam entered the lobby from the hotel hallway, spotted Hunter and stopped behind Cat. “I’m going to walk up to the stable and get the wagon.” He glanced down at Cat. “The bellhop will take our luggage outside. The wagon should be ready.” He raised his regard to Hunter. “Would you keep an eye out for me?”
“I will see you when you pull up, mon ami.” Hunter indicated his line of sight through the front window.
Sam nodded and crossed the lobby to the exit.
Hunter looked from Sam’s back to Cat. “He knows about us.”
“Us.” Cat smiled. “Yes, he does. He’s known all along, or so he would have me believe.”
Hunter's gaze broke from Cat's blue eyes and focused out the window. He stood, held out his hand, and then drew Cat to her feet.
“I am going to miss you, Alexander Veau,” Cat whispered.
Hunter brought her hand to his lips. He kissed her palm, never looking away from her eyes, then folded her fingers over the kiss and touched his lips to her knuckles. “And I shall miss you, Catherine Kline. I look forward to your return.”
Cat inclined her head and smiled at Hunter.
Hunter glanced out the window and muttered an oath. “Your brother is here already.”
She nodded, looking down. “I will see you soon. Take care of yourself.”
“I will,” he murmured. “And you—”
Cat clasped his hand quickly, then turned and made her way across the lobby and out of the hotel doors.
Hunter followed to watch through the glass.
Sam stood beside the wagon as the bellhop secured their trunks for the journey. When Cat approached him, he helped her to her seat, then rounded the wagon and climbed up beside her.
Hunter stepped out the door and onto the wooden walkway as they pulled away. As he knew she would, Cat looked back and waved. Hunter lifted his hand and held it high until she turned away.
Hunter returned to his room and pulled his maps from his leather binder and his pendulum from its silk pouch. He opened his big map of America and laid it across the bed. The vial of blood had dried to a congealed sludge. He twisted the stopper into the glass and put it away. He had used the pendulum before without blood, and this vial had been contaminated from the start. The whispers in his head urged caution, but they had urged that from the moment he set eyes on Minister Tremble.
He held the pendulum in his hand and closed his eyes. His mind became calm, and his heart rate slowed. He let the arrowhead slide from his hand as he held tight to the rose quartz above the map. The instrument began to circle.
Seeress, show me again the location of those you spoke of in the prophecy.
The urgency of his quest built in his mind. He felt the pendulum change direction and opened his eyes. The pendulum swung in an oblong circle, wider on one side, as though forming a triangle. There were clearly three points, all east of Denver. The furthest point was this side of the Mississippi river.
Two are still moving this way.
Their positions were closer than they had been this morning.
He put away his maps and pendulum. He had already begun to sketch a street map of Denver to add to his portfolio. The sooner he found these individuals and warned them about the minister and his prophecy of a demon, the quicker he could turn his full attention to Mademoiselle Kline.