It took him a while to finally catch up to the train. Even after she had forced the conductor to turn the vehicle off, he took his sweet time marching all the way up to the cars. At first Lozen thought he was doing something moronic with the rest of the train, but then it all started making sense when she saw what else was coming down the track. Beatrice. Without Judas.
The horse's jog dissolved into a steady trot as it approached, her legs taking exaggerated steps with her head held high as if proud of its mere existence. Lozen swore she could even see a smile cracking across what was left of the beasts face.
She stopped right next to the deck hanging off the end of the car and one that Lozen had been sitting on the edge of for about three hours now. The stallion galloped in circles in front of her, hooves tapping across the rails in what she would have assumed was a dance if she knew any better. Though, on the other hand, it wouldn't be the most shocking thing she had seen in the past week or so.
She was about to ask why on earth the creature seemed so delighted, but the answer was smeared all over Beatrice's face. The bone and rotting flesh had been stained red and small pieces of residual meat could be seen sticking to it's jaw. "That better have been dead when you found it." Lozen halfheartedly said to which the horse let out a neigh that was somehow both sarcastic and snobbish despite the animal being, well, an animal. She sighed in return and asked "And where, pray tell, is Judas?" The horse tossed it's head back and shot her a childish, yet devilish smile that seemed far too sentient for such a beast. Though again, not the strangest thing she had seen.
"Can I at least assume he'll be coming back-" Before she could finish asking, Lozen spotted a shape further down the track. At first it flickered and waved like that of a mirage, but it came into focus before she outright dismissed it. The blue glow coming off it made that apparent.
It took quite a while for him to come jogging into view, with the sound of him huffing and puffing in between screaming dry insults and curses into the air being heard before he did. His mask was still off, those his hat was glued to his head up until he arrived right into front of the train and collapsed. For some reason his chest rose up and down like he was out of breath, enough to keep him from talking, which was a miracle Lozen felt no temptation to stop. Minus his breathing, she relished in the silence his pseudo exhaustion up until the more pressing matters she had to attend to came back into focus.
"What took you?" She asked with stoic disdain drenching her voice and after another moment of gasping, Judas answered "Had to run...all the way.....from other train..."
"Why didn't you just ride on Beatrice."
"Tried....stupid bitch...kick me in...the gut...while eating...meat!"
Lozen glanced back up at the mare and upon seeing her delighted appearance, decided to believe his excuse.
"Alright. Then why are you out of breath? You don't have lungs."
"Now that...is a terrific...question. I refer you....to....God hating me!"
"Uh-huh. So how long is it going to take for you to recover from this?"
Beatrice let out a happy neigh at that before she started trotting around the winced deadman.
"And you...can kiss...my foot!! This.....isn't funny!!"
Lozen let out a slight pur before standing up and saying "Well, when.....this is over, get inside. We're leaving." She turned and pulled open the door before stopping as Judas replied "Oh no!! We're not going anywhere until you give me a good explanation as to why on earth you shoved me into a box car full of armed men."
"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it. And it wasn't a box car."
"Yeah, but it hurt like all hell!! So I'd like to know why you made me do that."
"I didn't make you do anything. You said gladly and kept wildly shooting at the other cars. Now if you're not up here in one minute, you're going to have to walk all the way to the next station." Lozen didn't wait for him to respond. She had already done enough of that and instead stepped back inside Alberta's private car. Sitting in the sun for three hours on end had caused the interior to feel more like a desert than anywhere outside and made the insides feel like a massive fireplace that was close to igniting. She could actually feel the change in temperate smash against her face as she stepped inside and was tempted to rush back outside for a moment.
Most of the place remained in about the same condition as before, though she had tossed out the bodies and broken furniture while back, reducing the fixture setting to the bed, a couple chairs, and a trunk. Sitting in one of those chairs and tied to it with bondages improvised from the dead guards clothes, was an aging woman wearing nothing but black. She was awake, but her mouth had been gagged about an hour and a half back when she refused to stop trying to talk her way out. Though her death stare persisted.
Lozen didn't pay Alberta any attention as she crossed over to the otherside of the car and stepped through the door. The following compartment was yet another one full of luggage, though they were contained in ornate boxes covered in fine leather with a skeleton made of silver. Beyond that, there was a massive metal box on wheels filled with coal and after climbing up the side, she finally gazed down on the damage she had done to the engine compartment.
There were two conductors in total, both of which were bound to a single lever sticking out of the massive engine. One was a long red lever the conductors had told Lozen at gunpoint was the on and off switch and the other was supposed to be the one that switched the tracks over. She pulled out the tiny pea shooter Alberta insisted on using and her own weapon, pointing both of them down at the conductors before saying "Get us moving again and don't stop until we're within view of a city. If you pull into a station without my permission, I'll use you as a meat shield in whatever shootout may ensue. Is that clear?"
Both of them quickly nodded to which Lozen replied "Good. Now get moving. We don't have all day." With that, she climbed back down and crossed back through the carts right before she felt the entire train lurch as it started back up. She reholstered her weapons by the time she stepped back into Alberta's car and was a little disappointed when she saw the deadman standing at the other end. Though, that disappointment turned into utter annoyance and fury when she saw him locking eyes with their latest bounty.
Alberta's eyes were wide again as the rest of her froze to the spot, but Judas seemed positively ecstatic at the sight of the former patron. He had a skeletal hand slapped over his mouth and he was leaning down until he was eye level with Alberta as if he were trying to get a better look at a literal miracle he couldn't believe he was seeing. Lozen sighed as she realized what she was in for and waltzed over to seat herself in one of the chairs that were still intact. A part of her though she might be able to avoid whatever he was that was putting that look of childish, condescending joy in Judas's face, but decided it was best to just get that over with before it was forced on her.
"Is there something you would like to share?" She asked before sighing at her own words. Judas stumbled towards Alberta in a way that was supposed to look like it was because he was too shocked to keep his balance, but was clearly due to him trying to be dramatic. He kept his hand over his mouth right up until his head was right next to Alberta, making her eyes look like they were about to pop out of her skull, and then slapped her right in the check.
Finch's head reeled back as a muffled scream tried clawing out if her throat, one that made a massive smile spread across Judas's face. He glanced over at Lozen, flashing her bus blackened teeth as he said in an exaggerated voice "Lozen, from the bottom of whatever vacuous chasm is now in place of my heart, thank you!" With that, he delivered another smack to Alberta's face before let out a thrilled howl and leaning right next to Alberta's face again before saying in a venomous voice "You have no idea how long I waited for this. So many sleepless nights I have spent fantasizing about this exact moment, you tied to a chair, and me, able to do whatever I please. Slug you, shot you, dice up into little pieces and feed me to my horse, collecting what she shits out, and burning it in the fires of hell!! So, which part of you do you like the least?! I'll make sure to save it for last!!"
"Judas."
He swung his head over to her, maniacal smile still carved into his expression and eyes wide with madness as he said "What?! You gonna stop me!!? Last time I checked, only one of us could die!"
Lozen sighed again before, in a blur of motion, pulling out Alberta peashooter and fire off it's only shoots at the deadman, hitting him square in the head. He reeled back and hit the floor, letting out a cry of both pain and annoyance as he impacted.
"Precisely." Lozen said, hoping Judas was intelligent to hear her threat and correction. He scrambled back onto his feet and in a fit of pure reaction, swung his hand up to point his spectral weapon right at her. Though, all Lozen did to respond was raise an eyebrow, not breaking her otherwise discontent expression. If anything, she was unimpressed with his own supposed threat and saw it as more his magnum opus of stupidity. "Really?" She said right before she saw it dawn on Judas. His head flew back ever so slightly when he put the pieces together. In the end, only she could point him in the direction of his crew and as such, held all the cards. He couldn't touch her while she could do practically anything she wanted. Even shoot him dead in the skull.
Judas threw his head back and let out a long, naive groan before letting his pistol dissolve into thin air. "That's what I thought. Now, where's the money?" She asked as she slipped the peashooter into her pocket. Judas tilted his head, staring at her with the same amount of disdain before slipping his hands back under his cloak.
She could see them rummaging around right before a sackle was tossed out towards her from under the cloth mummifying him. landed in her lap with a slight amount of pain and a cluster of clanking rising for a split second. For a moment, she petrified in place as she heard those slight sounds, thinking she must have been some sort of trick. Eventually though, she pulled the bag open and saw that, much to her disbelief and shock, fifteen sacks of coin lying at the bottom. She wasn't sure how long she stared down at the tiny bags, waiting for them to vanish like the mirages they simply had to be.
"What with the look? They're all there." Judas said, sounding as upset as usual, but Lozen simply continued staring at the sackle contents, counting each bag over and over again. "No seriously, why are you doing that. What did you ex...." It must have hit him mid sentence because he took one small pause before saying "Oh fuck you!! You didn't ask because you knew I had them!!! You thought I left all that cash back on the other half of the train!!!"
Lozen snapped out of her daze when she heard that and said "Well...if you were me, would you trust you?"
"When have I ever-Yeah, that's fair" His tone snapped from angry to submitting mid sentence "But then why did you start the train before you asked!!?" He cried out before it once again stuck him. "Christ on a cross, woman!! Were you planning on making me run all the way back to the other cars!!?" Lozen didn't answer for a moment before shutting the satchel again and saying "To...." She cleated her throat. "To teach you a lesson."
"About what?!!?"
"Not...not losing the money."
Judas paused again before saying "Okay, again, fair enough, but come on!!? Do you seriously not trust me that much!!?"
"Well, in all fairness, I though you could just ride back on Beatrice. I didn't know she was..." She didn't really have an idea of what to call it, so she just threw out a guess "-having a mood?"
Judas corrected her "I call it sudden onslaught sadomasochism. Still though!"
"Look, when you spend enough time out here with everyone and everything wanting to kill you, you learn to just assume the worst."
"That's not an excuse!!"
Before either of them could continue, their attentions were pulled back to their captive as a burst of murmurs came from her gagged mouth. They couldn't really make out any words, but Lozen already felt pestered just by even those slight sounds.
Judas on the other hand was utterly enthralled. He strode over towards Alberta, smiling all the way, and reached around her head to start untying her gag. "Please don't." Lozen said as she leaned her head into her hand, but Judas responded with "I have waited for ten long years to hear this wench beg me for mercy and I will not be denied it for one moment longer!!"
"She's not going to beg." Lozen added just as Judas ripped away the gag and freed Alberta to propose in a voice that was still remarkably calm and composed "My word, did I fall for the Jamjar?"
That caught Lozen by surprise. She had expected for Alberta to start trying to play some sort of mind game on her in a desperate attempt to convince her to let the former patron go. At the most she never thought she would ask anything involving jam and was left more confused than annoyed. Judas once again had a much different reaction and replied "What? Who said about..." He trailed off before turning on his heels, pointing his gleeful smile right at Lozen as he asked "What did you tell her?" Lozen raised an eyebrow and asked in return "What?"
"The jamjar is an old trick of ours. It's where one of us tells this over extravagant story in order to either fool some fools into giving us stuff or scaring them off. Like that poor ticket master back at the station."
"As well as everyone else you've met."
"Not that supervisor at the mine."
"Because you spent the time laugh...nevermind. How did she-"
"Oh no you don't! You've been a massive stick in the mud the entire way here!! I need to hear what you said! Did you exemplify my glory!? Was it a ghost story!?! Did you use an overly dramatic voice in order to hide the fact that with every word you're saying, you're silently wishing for the sweet, quick release of death just so you don't have so many eyes looking at you?!"
"Pardon?"
"Detail, damn you, details!!!"
"Why does it matter?"
Instead of pressing the issue with her any further, Judas spun back around to Alberta and asked as she raised a hand up in preparation to strike "What did she tell you?"
Alberta was quick to reply "That you are some spirit she brought back to life using Injun magic and ordered you to kill me in order to force me into surrendering."
The second after that information was disclosed, Lozen put a few fingers to head and started rubbing her forehead, preparing from the headache she predicted was coming. Judas spun back around to face her, somehow smiling even more than he already was and opened his mouth to say something inevitably snarky. However, before he could get a word out, his expression morphed into a sudden, thoughtful one and straightened himself out as he said "That's actually not that bad. Intimidating, nonsensical, but it's not like anyone would be able to prove that. You know, I think I might actually use that in the future." His eyes then refocused on her and said "Though I have a few notes."
Lozen cut in at that point, feeling her brain start pounding against the inside of his skull "Why do you have notes? It worked." She gestured towards the bound Alberta.
"Yes, but if ain't broken, that's when you know it's time to fix it."
"Even I know that's not how the saying goes."
"Well it is now."
"Please don't."
"Already doing it. So, how about next time we give you some more character?"
"I would prefer not."
"Yeah! You could say that you're a medicine man or something! You guys have that right?"
"We have doctors."
"What? No! I mean a medicine man."
"Which are doctors."
"No!! I'm talking about someone who mixes all those little herbs and medicinal whatever's and slather it on wounds to make them all better."
"Like a doctor."
"NO!! What did you guys have before the white man came?!"
"Midwen."
"Thank you!"
"Which means doctor."
He shoot her a nasty glare before continuing "Fine! What else do you call them? Shaman!! Yes!! Do you guys have shamans!?"
"We have priests."
"I mean someone who gets intoxicated in order to treat your spiritual whosits and whatsits!!"
"Don't you priests drink wine during your little meetings?"
"That's different!"
"How?"
"Ours are white!"
At that point, Alberta interjected and said "Wait just a moment! Is that you, Crone!?"
Judas's entire body froze up as the name echoed between the walls of the car and Lozen uttered a silent thanks to which God cut that conversation short. The deadman slowly turned back around to Alberta who's own expression was diminning with every second her realization settled in. "Oh Christ on his cross. It is you, isn't it?" She said as she leaned back into her chair, looking more annoyed than shocked. "Well, at least you're not Moore." Alberta continued right before Judas exploded "At least I'm not Moore!! AT LEAST I'M NOT MOORE!!! THAT'S YOUR FIRST REACTION TO SEEING ONE OF YOUR FORMER PARTNERS WHO YOU SHOT IN THE BACK ALIVE AND WALKING WHILE BEING NOTHING MORE THAN A PILE OF BONES AND A GLOWING SOUL!!!"
"Oh no. I'm baffled by all this, but I have a feeling neither of you would explain anything if I asked." Alberta glanced over at Lozen for an answer and she replied "Not even slightly." The former patron nodded and continued "And I didn't get where I am by panicking in the face of the unknown. There is an explanation for everything. All I have to do is find it.
"Oh, don't you dare act like you have any idea of what's going on!!'
"I quite literally just admitted I didn't. Though I suspect I still know more than you."
"And what does that mean."
"Darling, I think you already know."
At that, Judas snapped his hand up and pressed the barrel of his weapon right into her forehead. Lozen rolled her eyes again and said "Judas, I'm not sure how long it'll be before we arrive at the next station and this is the only car left to sleep in. I'd prefer not to share it with a corpse." At that, Alberta instantly snapped back as if out of panic, but kept herself as composed as usual "Why are you doing this? Surely this can't all be because of the bounty on my head." Lozen didn't answer such an obvious bait question, but Judas spat down to her "Nah! She's in it for the cash! I'm just here for some good old fashioned revenge courtesy of my literally undying rage!!"
Alberta raised an eyebrow and said "So I'm assuming you're going after all of us?"
"Oh hell yeah!!"
"And I'm the last on your list?"
"Hah! Like hell you-"
"JEBEDIAH!!" Lozen cut in, hoping that infernal name would stop him from giving their prisoner anymore information. He swung his head back to her as he said "And you get to sit there and watch!! This has-"
"Been a long time coming." Lozen finished. "I'm well aware. But I wouldn't be so lenient when it comes to disclosing information."
"What does it matter!!? She's already tied up!!"
"And as your previous behavior suggests, that is prone to change."
"What's she gonna do!!? Walk through the robes!?"
"It would be less surprising then making someone shot himself via villainous monologue."
"How long are you going to hold that over my head!!?"
"At least through the week."
Alberta cut in again "So, I'm assuming it was Moore who shot himself."
Judas glanced back and said in a calmer, matter of factual voice "Well who else would it be? I'll say whatever I like about you guys, but the rest of y'all ain't giant cowards."
"Apart from Sirius."
"Oh yeah. Almost forgot about him."
"To be honest, we did too. The only reason we never did was because-"
Lozen cleared her throat, cutting the two of them short before saying "Okay, enough of this. Judas, you're not staying in here."
"What!? Why!!?"
"Because anyone who can seemingly forget their grudges, especially those relating to their deaths, after a solid ten second of mild banter should not be trusted with the security of prisoners."
"One, it's not mild banter."
"Yes it is."
Alberat chimed in "Even I have to say yes it is."
Judas continued "And two, I meant, why do you think you can tell me what to-"
Another crack of gunfire rang out through the room and sent Judas slamming back into the door behind him. "OWW!!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!!?" He cried out as he finally noticed what should have been obvious. The floor was littered with only one other object besides blood and wood shards. Rifles left over from the bodies, one of which had been resting right next to Lozen chairs and was now gripped firmly in her hands. She struck the reloaded surrounding the trigger with her fingers and then aimed it right back at the deadman.
"Because once again, only one of us has the pleasure of dying." Lozen answered as Judas slowly crawled onto his feet. "Fine! God! You know there's a nice way of saying that." He shouted back to which Lozen aimed her weapon again and said "I know. Would you like another demonstration or will you just get out?" Judas half heartedly threw his hands up and said "I said fine! Just let me grab something from here first!"
"What something?"
Judas raised a finger up to her before glancing back at Alberta and saying "Six years ago, you stole some silver from me right after you put a bullet in my head. Where is it?"
The former patron raised an eyebrow and asked "Why on earth would I remember something I took from off a corpse six years ago?"
"Because if even fucking Moore didn't lose it, then I doubt you would."
Alberta fell quiet at that for a moment before saying in a slightly defeated tone "Night stand on the left. Second drawer. You can't miss it." At that, Judas dashed over to the night stand and pulled her entire drawer out before flipping it's contents onto the floor. Lozen felt tempted to fire at him again for falling for what had to be the most obvious trap she had ever seen, but when nothing exploded, she felt more curious.
"Why are you searching for some silver coins?" She asked as Judas got on his knees and started sifting through the scattered papers and purses. "None of your-" He started before Lozen triggered the reload switched and sent a satisfying click echoing through the car, the only warning she would give. "Alright, alright!! Just stop shooting me!"
Judas paused for a moment before picking something up off the ground. It was a tiny coin purse the same color as blood and upon opening it, he said "Didn't really know why until you told me that story about the chi-zoo-zoo guy. You remember that part about how the guy tried finding the head those other guys stole?"
"Vaguely."
"But you told me the...whatever. Point is, I think this-" He popped open the purse and let its contents slide into his palm before saying "Is my head." In his hands were about eight tiny, silver coins. All of them were clearly worn down from time and covered in a significant amount of grim and dirt. They looked more like antiques than actual coins, but there was something not quite right about them. Lozen felt there was something off about them at first sight even if she had trouble putting her finger off if. It was like she could see them, but not focus on any of them. Or maybe as if there was some part of them she wasn't seeing, but deep down knew had to be there.
Though, she dismissed those thoughts and choked them up to exhaustion before saying "I'm assuming that's what you took off Moore, correct?" Judas nodded and said "Which is shocking since I figured he would have blown it all on some half throughout investment only to watch it blow up in face both figuratively and literally."
"Alright, but how do you know you even need to find these coins? That story I told is, again, a children's bedtime story. I doubt it's true to life. What would even happen is you didn't?" Judas shrugged and said as he slid all the coins into a tiny pouch hanging from his belt line "I don't know. Just a feeling I guess. You know when you're dreaming and you know something about to happen before it does."
"Not even slightly."
"Well it's like that. You know something, but you don't know what it is. Besides, it makes me seem like-"
"I'm going to take a wild guess here and say 'like a mysterious lone gunslinger with only a pack of silver to hint at his backstory and an unquenchable desire to take back what is rightfully his from those who wronged him in life'?"
Judas fell quiet for a moment before murmuring to himself "I'm not that predictable. Regardless, I am still fairly certain these things are important...Somehow. My gut doesn't lie."
Alberta cut in again "And the fact that I can't get rid of them is also very helpful for identifying their supernatural nature."
Both Judas and Lozen petrified to the spot at that before they both turned their attention towards the former patron. Her expression was just as stern and unjesting as usual, making it even more difficult to tell if she was fooling them or not. "Toss one out of the train. You'll see what I mean." She answered their confused expressions with which Judas let out a loud, over exaggerated laugh at before replying "Sure! And why don't I just throw myself off the train too!! I'm sure you'd love that!"
Lozen shot him a disdainful look before turning back to Alberta and asking "Though, that does bring up a good point. Why did you keep those coins for six years?"
"Oh I can tell you that! Because she wanted a memento of when she killed me!"
Alberta rolled her eyes at that and said "And why would I keep a memento of you? You were some desert trash who miraculously knew how to talk his way into esteemed establishments. Killing you was an inconvenience at best." Judas started raising his gun again, but Lozen let out a loud "Ahem!" and drew attention back to the weapon in her own hands, causing him to petrify in place. "Continue." Lozen said to which Alberst complied "Believe me, I have tried: Depositing it in banks, buying assortments of goods, and even tossing it onto the ocean. Yet every time, it always appears somewhere in my possession. A purse, the pockets of a coat, even my own hands."
Judas snapped back "Sure!!"
"Then you must think Moore held onto them for six years while slaving away in that filthy mine."
Lozen perked up at that and asked with her eyes zeroing in on Finch "Wait, how did you know that?" Judas decided to answer in an almost hysterical voice "She doesn't! Where else would Moore end up!? Besides as a rodeo clown being gored to death by a cow."
Alberta added "Or the feces cleaner of the world's most famous gunslingers horse."
"Or a failed actor turned streetside prostitute."
"Or an alcoholic father who couldn't even preform domestic abuse correctly."
"Oh my god, that's him! That's Moore!"
"Ahem!!" Lozen interrupted....whatever she was witnessing, reminding Judas of their circumstances. "What!? I'm just..." The deadman started before he realized he almost engaged in pleasant conversation with both their prisoner and, somehow less importantly, his murderer. "You were just stepping outside." Lozen finished for him, gesturing to the door and hoping he'd get the message before he started playing into the patrons hands again. Judas swung his head back and forth between her and Alberta, still as stoic as usual, but looking disappointed in some slight way, before letting out another long, childish groan.
"Fine. I've got what I want anyways." He grumbled into his.....whatever counted as a lip for him and then marched off to the back door with the composure of a pouting boy.
Lozen followed him all the way to the door with the barrel of her weapon and when he finally stepped outside, returned the rifle's aim towards Alberta. "Alright. Now answer my question." Lozen demanded and to which Alberta replied "I'm being honest here, darling. Little Moore only did three things in the time I knew him. Sleep, eat, and-" Before she could finish what Lozen was sure to be some passive aggressive quip, she slid the barrel of her riffle until it was aimed just next to Alberta's head again.
The bullet shattered the window behind her and sent a small gust of sound rushing inside as the sound of the engine blew past. Despite having a bullet pass right next to her face, Alberta remained just as collected and almost uninterested as before. Though, that didn't mean she didn't get the point. "Me and Jebediah back there used to be apart of a-" She started before Lozen said "I know. The other members were Tobias Moore, Sirius Cane, Florentine Lorenzo, and Gregor Iscariot. What I don't know is how you knew where Moore was."
"Is it too much to believe that I simply know my former compatriots well?"
"No. I doubt that someone like you would enjoy taking guesses."
Alberta paused before cracking a small smile and saying "Very well then. If you insist. Yes, I've kept my eyes and ears on the members of my former companionships. It's a policy I find very helpful. Especially when said members try to take my life after our business is concluded. Though, not that it was too difficult to track Moore. The others were only slightly more difficult. Sirius has spent the last two years hoping for estate to estate, I take it that's your doing, and-"
Lozen cut her off at that "Wait. What does that mean?"
"It means I'm going to make the assumption that you're the reason he keeps running all over the state while exporting stories of ghosts coming to kill him. Must be extremely frustrating to keep missing him. So, I-"
"What has he been talking about?"
"Pardon?"
"This Sirius. You said that he's been telling stories about ghost coming for his head. What exactly did he say?" Lozen clarified. She was close to completely certain that this Cane was simply insane, but considering her company, it couldn't hurt to ask. Last thing she wanted was being surprised with more people coming back from the dead. Though, it was troubling to see Alberta's reaction to her question.
Her brow curled and lips parted in a look of confusion directed right at Lozen. The rigid posture she had maintained also seemed to fade even if only for a second, making it feel like there was something very very wrong. "Have you not been chasing after Sirius?" Alberta asked and Lozen replied "Why should that matter?"
"Because everyone of my eyes and ears have come back to me saying that he believes he is being hunted by a ghost. I thought he was just losing his mind up until you and that troglodyte came here. So forgive me, but I'm a little perplexed."
"Could he not just be losing his mind?"
"He described this specter of his as a skeleton that glowed like a sapphire in sunlight."
"Sure."
"I'm not lying, my dear. So you best quit the act. You have no reputation to uphold with me."
"What are you talking about?"
"You're the tracker aren't you? It simply can't be Jebediah. So if you're ashamed about letting someone as wrong in the mind as Sirius, you should know that I don't have a care in the world whether you did or didn't. So you don't have to keep pretending that you never attempted it in the first place. I can help you to find him. As well as Gregor and Lorenzo."
Lozen almost laughed at that, but kept herself under control for the moment. She could see what this was about. The only reason she had given for keeping Alberst alive was that it was annoying to have her dead. The former patron must have figured that pesterancr wouldn't keep her alive for here and was trying to give her another reason to keep her alive. If not for annoyance, but information. The kind that Lozen already had. Add in a dash of some fake ghost story to get her attention it was that "jamjar" plan all over again.
Sighing and without saying a word, Lozen stood up and waltzed over to the former patron as she slung her weapon over her shoulder. Alberta straightened herself as her smile grew just enough to be noticed and said in a much livelier voice "And if your companion out there isn't the one who's been terrifying Sirius, then there might be something else I can help you piece toge-" Before she could finish with whatever bribe she was going to deliver, Lozen pulled her ahah back up and shoved it into Alberta's mouth.
"That works on Jebediah." Lozen reminded the former patron in a disinterested voice. It didn't seem Alberat was going to do anything else besides attempt to bribe her or trick her like she could easily do to Judas, so there wasn't much more a reason to allow her to keep talking. Although, she would be lying if there wasn't some part of that had been considering what she heard.
A part that slowly dropped questions and thoughts into her mind as she seated herself back in her chair. She tried repeating the obvious. It was just some old crone trying to catch her attention or maybe even throw her off, but something didn't sit right with her. While it may have just been some hoax, she couldn't help but think about what it might mean if it wasn't. If there was something else out there, another ghost that stepped out of it's grave, she hoped to god they stumbled across it's path. One deadman was already hard enough to swallow. Two just put her in too much danger. Her village in too much danger.
But it was going to be okay, she tried telling herself. You have a train, the money, and Judas. Right now, everything was fine. Just don't let tomorrow sneak up on you and maybe you'll make it through this. Maybe.