There was, perhaps, another hope: Wellington would strike a deal that left Maurice unharmed. But that would be like a wolf trying to eat a rabbit without damaging the fur. He pushed to his feet, forced himself beyond the pain, and began the long climb up. He felt a cold tingle on his face and glanced at the sky. Small snowflakes had begun to drift down from the clouds.
When he topped the ridge, Henry could see a thread of gray wood smoke rising from the cabin, still half a mile distant. He worked his way down the ridge and followed the little stream. The wind shifted in his direction, and he could smell the burning wood. As he neared the clearing where the cabin and outbuildings stood, he slid several rounds into his rifle. He hid in the underbrush and studied the cabin. The door was closed. He saw no sign of Maurice or Wellington or Pierre. Had they taken Maurice away, forced him to show them the gold deposit? Which way was that?
He wanted to make a dash for the cabin, slip along the wall, and listen for anything inside. His leg would never give him that speed. He settled on a different strategy. Between Henry’s position and the cabin on the far side of the clearing, stood the outhouse. He decided to go for that first and from there to the cabin. He limped his way painfully across ten yards of open ground and fell against the back of the little structure. He paused there to catch his breath.
That’s when he heard the men coming. They approached from upstream, from the west. Henry eased himself along the wall and peered around the corner of the outhouse.
“You go on. Don’t worry about me.” Wellington’s voice boomed like the bellow of a moose.
A moment later, they stepped into the clearing, Pierre first, with Wellington not far behind. No Maurice.
“You’re sure you remember the way?” Wellington said to the Indian’s back.
“I remember.”
“More’s the pity,” Wellington said.
He reached to the small of his back and produced his revolver. He pointed the barrel at the tracker. From three paces back, he couldn’t miss. The revolver popped. The Indian’s head jerked forward, as if hit with a club, and he dropped. Wellington stood over him. He slipped the pistol into his belt, grabbed the man’s legs, and dragged him into the cabin.
Henry understood now the reason for the Xs carved into the trees. They were Wellington’s assurance of finding his way back without the guide. He looked down at the rifle in his hands. Why hadn’t he used it? He should have shot Wellington when the man was in the open. But the scene-the execution of the Indian-had surprised him.
Snow drifted out of the sky and coldly kissed Henry’s face. He lifted his rifle, sighted on the door, and waited. He steeled himself for what he was about to do. He’d killed often, killed well and without regret. But this was different. This was no bear or moose or deer. This was a man like himself.
Not like me, Henry thought.
He was weak from his wound and from the long, difficult walk. His arms trembled as he tried to hold the rifle steady.
Wellington had been in the cabin for a long time when the wisp of smoke from the chimney turned into a billow, black against the gray clouds and the white snowflakes. In another minute, dark smoke began to roll out the cabin door and windows. Henry lifted his head away from the rifle stock. Where was Wellington? Where was Maurice? Why was the cabin burning?
Wellington stumbled from the cabin door, smoke clinging to his back. Henry quickly sighted. The wind hit the smoke from the cabin and, for a moment, a black curtain was drawn between Henry and his target. Henry pulled off the round anyway, keeping his aim at the spot where Wellington had been.
The smoke cleared a moment later. Wellington had vanished.
“Henry?” Wellington called. “Is that you, Henry?”
The voice came from the protection of the far side of the cabin. Henry’s arms and shoulders ached from the long ordeal of trying to hold his stance.
“Your friend the Negro, he’s inside, Henry. He’s still alive, but he’s going to burn to death pretty soon. You going to let that happen?”
Maurice alive? Was Wellington lying?
Yellow hands of flame thrust through the black smoke and felt their way along the top of the door and windows.
“Know what it’s like to burn alive, Henry? Another couple of minutes and you’ll be hearing his screams. It’ll be too late by then.”
Henry tried to think. There was nothing between him and the cabin, no cover of any kind. If he tried to save Maurice, he would be a clear target for Wellington. Henry considered Wellington’s revolver. He didn’t know much about handguns, but he thought the weapon’s cylinder carried only six bullets. Wellington had fired two at the campsite and one into the Indian. Three left, if he hadn’t reloaded. What was the effective range of a pistol? Not far, Henry hoped.
He had no choice. He stepped into the open.
Through the ragged veil of smoke that drifted across the clearing, Henry saw Wellington’s head and shoulder appear around the corner of the cabin. His arm snaked around next, the revolver in his hand. The first shot hit the outhouse wall far to the left of Henry. Wellington fired again, this time hitting nothing. Henry kept coming. The next time the pistol popped, Henry was no more than fifteen yards away. The bullet creased his left arm, but by now Henry was like the cabin, full of fire. He barely took note of the bullet, and he felt no pain. He saw Wellington pull the trigger again and again. Nothing happened. The man’s eyes grew large and afraid and he vanished behind the cabin. Henry hobbled as quickly as he could to the corner, his rifle raised and read to fire, but Wellington was gone.
Henry limped along the back wall to the far corner. No sign of the man. He completed a circle of the cabin. It was clear to him that Wellington had fled into the forest. Henry would gladly have hunted him down, but Maurice was still inside the burning cabin.
Through the doorway all Henry could see was the murk of the smoke and the yellow-orange dance of flame. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and dropped to the ground. On all fours, he crawled inside. He came to the Indian first. The man lay on his back. The side of his head was missing a chunk, and the raw pink of his brain hung in pieces along the ragged hole in his skull. To Henry’s great astonishment, however, the Indian wasn’t dead. His eyes followed Henry and his mouth moved, speaking words Henry couldn’t hear above the rage of the fire. Henry hesitated only a moment before moving on to find Maurice.
His friend was slumped in a chair to which he’d been bound with rope. His chin lay on his chest. His eyes were closed. Henry pulled out his pocket knife, snapped open the blade, and cut the ropes. Maurice fell into his arms. Henry scooted across the floor to the door, dragging his friend with him. He inched past Pierre, whose terrified eyes tracked him and whose mouth kept working in soundless desperation. Henry tugged Maurice across the threshold and outside. Twenty yards from the cabin, his strength gave out and he collapsed and lay on the ground coughing out soot and smoke.
He wanted to lie there, to do nothing more, but he couldn’t let the Indian burn to death. He scanned the clearing to make sure there was still no sign of Wellington, then he gathered his strength and crawled back to the cabin. The smoke had thickened, and Henry’s eyes watered, so that he couldn’t see. He felt his way along until he touched the Indian. He hooked his hands under the man’s arms and hauled as he inched himself back out. Exhausted, coughing up black junk, a beast of pain chewing on his leg, he lay between Maurice and Pierre while the cabin burned.
“Henry.” Maurice’s voice was a low, choking rattle.