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!”
“Too perfect, if you ask me,” Cutter remarked.
“Listen to yourself,” Jess Hook said. “Our wish is about to come true and all you do is gripe. What good would it do her to lie when she knows what we would do to her and Parker?”
“I’m just saying we shouldn’t trust her until we see the gold ourselves,” Cutter said.
“That goes without saying. Now simmer down, will you? Five days from now we’ll be the happiest gents alive. If it turns out she’s lying, we’ll just go back to our original plan.”
“Let’s head out as soon as we have had some coffee,” Jordy proposed. “The sooner we start, the sooner we get there.”
Blue Water Woman poured when the coffee was ready. The brothers joked and laughed. Cutter, though, was in a foul temper, and no amount of friendly coaxing by the Hooks could change his mood.
For my own part, I was depressed. I was disappointed in Blue Water Woman, disgusted with our captors, and dismayed that I would not be able to paint or sketch until our ordeal was over. Or would I? I put the question to Jess Hook, who blinked and regarded me as he might a snake with wings.
“Don’t you beat all.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Your life is at stake, and all you can think of is the silly work you do?” Jess chortled. “Sure, mister, sure. You can draw and paint, so long as you behave. But mind you, We’ll be in the saddle most of the time, and we’re not stopping just so you can draw some bird or bug.”
“What sort of man are you?” Jordy Hook asked me. “Playing with brushes is not fit for a grown-up.”
His absurdity angered me. “What are you talking about? The work I do is for science. For expanding the boundaries of human knowledge.”
Jess Hook whistled. “Listen to you! You never use a small word when a big one will do, huh?”
“I am only saying naturalists are important.”
Jordy said, “You can puff yourself up as much as you want, but I know silly when I see it and what you do is plumb silly.”
I have often wondered how some people can be so dense between the ears. Granted, no two minds are alike, and granted, just as there are sharp razors and dull razors, so, too, are there sharp minds and dull minds. But honestly. How mental sluggards like Jordy Hook can remember to take their next breath is beyond me.
If that seems harsh, it is only because I have been teased before about my profession. People look at me askance, as if cataloging the creatures we share this planet with suggests I am crazy. One fellow of my acquaintance referred to me as “that guy who chases butterflies.” Another once called me, and I quote, “the loon who likes animals more than people.”
In any event, the rest of that afternoon was a blur. I was lost inside myself, and except for having to tug on the rope to my packhorse now and again, I was oblivious to the world around me.
I did vaguely note that we were giving the valley floor a wide berth, and staying high enough up and in heavy enough timber that it was unlikely anyone would spot us, even through a spyglass.
Their dull intellects notwithstanding, the Hook brothers were cautious and clever.
Toward sunset we stopped for the night. Blue Water Woman was told to cook a rabbit Cutter killed with a knife. I saw him do it, and I cannot quite believe what I saw. We were in among spruce when the rabbit bolted from cover. It took a few bounds and then, perhaps out of curiosity, stopped to stare at us.
Cutter was the last in line, and it so happened that the rabbit stopped near him. His hand moved, and metal gleamed in the sun, all so fast that had I blinked I would have missed it. The rabbit leaped high into the air, a knife stuck in its side. It kicked convulsively, then was still.
I was impressed. Considerable skill is required to throw a knife with speed and accuracy.
Now, sitting by the fire and watching the rabbit slowly roast on a spit, I wrapped my arms around my knees and racked my brain for a way out of our predicament. The Hook brothers and Cutter were over by the horses, talking in low tones. About us, I guessed. Venting a sigh, I remarked to Blue Water Woman, “This is a fine mess we are in.”