It was the dance time on that evening. Every Saturday night meant the never-ending tide of demands for shots of strong alcohol and glasses of beer flowing to Kame. Three musicians were playing their instruments quite skillfully, making half of the present people get up on their feet. Ladies from Madame Sukina´s brothel, wearing all tones of garish colors, were the most active on the dance floor, knowing that their efforts would be paid back in the form of free drinks and horny customers. The saloon´s guests were stomping, screaming and dancing like there was no tomorrow and then they wanted to drink more, thirsty from their moving exertion.
Kame could not afford to have a break even for one minute if he wanted to serve everybody. He was relieved only when the small music band finally stopped playing and they let the pianist have some space in the program. A few customers left to the brothel, and some set off to their home, too drunk to think of anything else than sleeping. By that time, the mysterious newcomer appeared again.
Jin entered the taproom and headed right toward the bar. Kame noticed that the visit at the barber was quite a benefit to the young stranger´s appearance. He nodded his head slightly, to let the older one know he considered his presence and rushed to Mr. Harada´s table with his late dinner first. When he returned, Jin was leaning against the counter with a tired face.
"Kame, be so nice and give me some beer," he requested right away.
The busy bartender gave his customer a short glance: "No way, I won´t give you anything," he said sharply.
"What?" Jin looked at him seriously hurt. "Man, I´m dying from thirst over here!"
Kame finished the preparation of beer tankards for the group of cowboys and took the full plate into his hands.
"You have to pay for it like everybody else," he informed the insulted gunslinger. "I said I won´t just give it to you," and he left confused Jin alone again.
It took Kame a lot of effort not to laugh, when he saw the other´s face after coming back behind the bar.
"Of course I will pay. You´re just mean," Jin complained.
Kame hid his smile and prepared another glass for the pouting guy. Even though he was already exhausted, the black haired one´s presence made his mood somewhat better.
"Then express yourself properly," he reacted calmly.
Before Jin could have reacted, there was a call from the middle of the saloon.
"Hey, you! Greenhorn!"
Jin turned his head and noticed that the sheriff´s deputy was the one who spoke, staring at him directly. He pointed at himself questioningly.
"Yeah, you," Math Grenet confirmed with an arrogant nod. "Join us," he pointed at the empty chair at their table, where he was sitting with three other gunmen.
A few glances from the rest of drinking customers headed in Jin´s direction; everybody was waiting for what he would do. Even Mr. Harada stopped eating, observing the situation closely.
"Gladly," Jin agreed calmly and came across the room to the invited place.
He sat down and not showing any surprise he accepted the offered cigarette, curious about what might have caused the change of that asshole´s attitude.
"I think we started from the wrong end," Grenet spoke not so loudly, but Kame caught his words, as they were sitting quite close to the bar. "I´m Math Grenet. The local sheriff´s deputy."
He reached his hand over the table and Jin accepted it without even blinking.
"Jin Akanishi."
"An unusual name..."
"I´m an unusual guy."
Grenet laughed amused, which made Kame feel a little sick. That man was a horrible actor...
"That´s what I call self-confidence. Do you hear it, boys?"
His boys expressed their agreement obediently. Meanwhile Kame finished filing up Jin´s glass and took it to their table.
"Thanks…" there was a quiet expression of gratitude from Jin.
"Hey, pretty face, when you´re on it, hurry up and bring some beers to us, too."
"Right away," Kame nodded, even though he would have rather spilled the rest of Grenet´s previous drink all over his head.
"So, Akanishi… What brings you to this ugly town?"
The answer followed almost immediately: "Hunting."
"Really?" the sheriff´s deputy raised his eyebrows so high that it looked stupid. "And what do you want to hunt?"
"A grizzly bear."
That shut Grenet up and he observed Jin in disbelief, while Kame behind the counter blinked in surprise as well. He didn´t know what Jin´s intentions in Bozeman were, but he wouldn´t have thought that the young man was one of those crazy hunters obsessed with bears. He could not help but feel a little disappointed.
"So, you´re either very brave or completely crazy, man," Grenet reacted finally. "All locals know that you can only run from that creature or use dynamite against it."
"I don´t need dynamite to put some bear down," Jin said without any sign of worries, sipping on his beer.
"There aren´t bears in Montana, greenhorn," the deputy continued mockingly. "There´re monsters here. If you spot one, run for your life or you´ll end up as its dinner."
"Thanks for the advice, but I think I´ll try my luck."
Grenet narrowed his eyes suspiciously: "What for? Do you want to have it as decoration in your house, or what?"
"No. I´d like to present it as a gift," Akanishi explained.
Kame walked by their table and that sentence disgusted him even more. To kill an animal just for fun… Or for some gift. He didn´t like that idea at all.
"To whom?" Grenet raised his final question.
"To Mr. Karnaka."
Kame stumbled over one of the chairs. Just at the last second, he kept his balance and covering his face expression, he returned to the bar. It seemed that he was wrong relying on his instinct and thinking Jin was a good guy. In his opinion, nobody who wanted to please Raynold Karnaka was worth wasting any time on.
*
Jin managed to surprise Grenet; it was obvious on the deputy´s face. The man probably didn´t expect to hear the name of the most infamous man around from his mouth. Jin realized that he must act his part really well now. It was not unusual for anybody to seek for Karnaka´s attention, but he attracted Grenet´s suspicion with his behavior on the day before.
"I´d like to work for him," he added to his previous statement firmly.
Grenet dragged a long shot from his cigarette, watching him with sharp eyes.
"Now you have my attention, Akanishi... So, you´d like to impress the most powerful man in this region, huh? That won´t be easy."
"I know. But I will do whatever it takes to accomplish it. I heard that Mr. Karnaka is quite generous his loyal employees..."
"I can confirm that," the deputy´s smile was wide and slimy as of a poisonous snake.
"Oh. Do you work for Mr. Karnaka then?" Jin just hoped his wonder was believable enough.
"We all do," Grenet said.
The men around the table laughed shortly. By that time, Kame came and put the beers on their table.
"Pretty face, add whiskey to it," Grenet ordered him. "We have to drink to our greenhorn´s luck."
The bartender just nodded and left them without even single look at Jin.
"I´m quite curious about you, Akanishi, so keep me informed, how your hunting goes. It´s not such a bad idea with that bear thing. But I´d love to know how many legs you´ve got left after the encounter with one of those furry beasts," Grenet´s laughter was insulting this time, but Jin just smiled.
"I´ll try my best."
To deal with you right after that old bastard... he added just in his thoughts.
***
Montana was one of the most beautiful countries in the world, at least in Jin´s opinion. Not that he would have traveled so much to be able to compare, but even if he did, he didn´t think it would have changed his mind.
Bozeman City was located at the very foot of the Rocky Mountains. Only an hour of ride on his horse´s back was enough to get him right into the middle of breathtaking wild.
Jin stroked his dear Kuro across the neck and the horse stopped his movement obediently. He dismounted, let the animal stand under the group of spruces and he himself climbed up a short steep hill. When he got to the top, an incredible view opened right in front of his eyes.
The mountains seemed to be much closer now and the heavy clouds were touching their peeks slightly. Their reflection could be seen at the surface of crystal clear water of the wide lake, surrounded with many flower bushes and trees. The early autumn gave the coldness to the whole scenery, as not many trees around were deciduous, so there was not much color in the scenery, just the impressive grey of the mountains and the dark green of tons of conifers.
Jin was just standing there for a while, enjoying the peace of the place, the cold wind in his face and hair. It was easy to forget about the shitty reality here, impressed by the purity and power of the nature itself.
But he was not there for some vacation. He got up early that morning, cursing himself for drinking too much the previous night, when a heavy hangover almost threw him back to the bed. After some fighting with his own laziness, he set off to the woods in the south, just like the day before. He needed to look for the tracks, for any possible places where the bears could have their dining place. The salmons´ spawning was near, so Jin intended to find one of the tributaries of the Yellowstone River. It was highly probable that he would be able to find some signs of bear´s presence around. He just hoped that it would not start raining from those scary clouds.
He returned to Kuro, who was chewing some sweet straws of grass calmly, knowing very well that his master was planning something stupid again, but determined to obey him no matter what as always.
It took Jin two hours and a lot of bad language to find what he wanted finally. It was only a small stream, but even that meant progress. The bad thing was when he realized it would probably take him three more hours to get back to the city, as his sense of orientation was a little confused. Without the sun, it was more difficult to identify the correct directions.
Jin ate some bread together with sweet cranberries and headed back in his own tracks, when he noticed he came across a narrow, but quite trampled road between the trees, leading along the stream. Just when he thought that he should better be careful, Kuro neighed warningly. He wanted to take cover between the trees, but it was already too late.
All the sudden there were movements all around. Jin just managed to put his right hand on the gun-stock, when he realized that he was surrounded by at least dozen of Indians on horses without saddles. Each of them had a bow, a few even firearms and all of them were aiming at him. Those folks didn´t look friendly at all. And there was absolutely no space to back off, they were all around him.
Jin was not as stupid as to provoke them, so he rose his hands in the air to show he didn´t intend to do anything careless. He was amazed with how quiet those red men were. He didn´t notice them or their horses at all, until they wanted him to know about them. They stopped a few meters away and then one Indian appeared right in front of Jin, looking more important than the others, with a long feather in his dark hair. And right behind him...
Jin´s jaw dropped when he recognized the young man approaching him together with the Indian. It was Kame. He was not in his usual bartender outfit – the dark trousers, white shirt and black vest; he was wearing almost the same pants with fringes which all Indians had, and a dark blue poncho, which protected him from the cold. Also his hair wasn´t tied up properly, but he let it loose, falling to his face. To the face which seemed just as surprised as Jin´s was.
Jin was staring only at the young bartender, while the Indian with the feather was observing him. Then he turned to Kame, whose face suddenly changed into an almost annoyed expression and asked him something in their language.
Jin almost fell down from Kuro to the ground, when he heard Kame answering the same way. So, the guy meant it seriously when he said he had learnt many things from Indians. They were discussing something for a minute, while the rest of the red men were still threatening him with their arrows and Jin didn´t dare to utter even one word. Even though there was peace between the white and red nation for now, you never knew when and what any of them might do. They were quite pissed at the white ones, which was nothing to be surprised about.
Finally, they stopped talking, and Kame led his white mare around the Indian´s horse and approached Jin. The feathered Indian gave a short order and for Jin´s relief the bows were put down.
"Can I dare to be relieved to see you here?" Jin asked awkwardly.
Kame gave him a look, which Jin didn´t understand. It was disgusted, disappointed and maybe even angry kind of expression.
"You´re at the Blackfeet Tribe´s territory. It was appointed to them by the government and they don´t like any uninvited visitors here. Whatever the reason, you shouldn´t be here without informing them and asking for permission."
Jin put his hands down slowly: "Well... I didn´t know that."
"I thought so. I explained to them that you´re a newbie here. They will let you go this time."
Jin was confused about the cold voice Kame used while talking to him. He didn´t know what he did to make the other one angry. Maybe he was sensitive about the intrusion into these woods as well?
"Thank you," he said seriously. "I´ll leave right away. And please tell them that I´m sorry."
Kame grinned in disbelief and it didn´t suit his face at all: "You can tell them yourself. At least half of them understand English."
"All right," Jin reacted immediately. "Who´s their leader?"
"That one right behind me," Kame responded slowly, watching him carefully. "He´s the Tribal Chief´s son."
Without any other words, Jin dismounted his horse, avoided Kame and his mare and headed to the mentioned Indian, who was watching him with the eyebrows narrowed to one strict line. Jin stopped right in front of him, clearly seeing the arrows, which were immediately pointing at his head again.
"I sincerely apologize for invading your territory without permission. I will be more careful next time."
The Indian was staring at him for a while, before he nodded his head slightly, waved his hand and in the next second he was leaving the place along with all other Indians from his tribe. Jin watched them to disappear between the trees and then Kame´s mare stopped next to him. He lifted his eyes to the brown ones, which seemed confused.
"If you want to hunt, go somewhere else, Akanishi," those were the last words which Kame said to him and then left in the same direction as the Indians.
Jin felt much better when all of them were out of his sight. He turned back to Kuro, who was watching him with a quite clear expression: I´ve told you this is a stupid idea.
He continued his way back to the city, pondering Kame´s expression and words.
Akanishi...
Why did the younger one call him like that? What the hell did he do to him?
***
The Blackfeet Tribe´s village was very well hidden in the mountains area, located above the beautiful waterfall, which was a part of some nameless stream and surrounded by steep slopes. All Indians protected their rare secret places the best way they could.
Most of the members of their nation in the whole States was living, or better said surviving in the reservations with clearly given borders. There were not many places, where they could feel truly safe and free. And that small village of the Blackfeet´s Indians was one of them. At that time, at least.
Kame could hear the high-pitched sound of the cedar flute from far away already and it tore him off the pessimistic thoughts, which were going mostly around his mother, but also around Mr. I-Am-A-Hunter.
He didn´t get that strange gunslinger at all. On one side, the man seemed to be nice, kind and also sort of foolish, but on the other, he wanted to give to the biggest bastard in ten miles´ radius the grizzly bear´s head, just to please him. It was obvious that Akanishi had already started looking for the tracks, what else he would be doing so deep in the woods. But he also looked really serious about the apology for intruding somewhere he wasn´t supposed to. Kame knew no one who would have reacted like that. It also surprised the Tribal Chief´s son and he was a man who bore great grudge against the white nation.
Kame forced himself to stop thinking about something unnecessary and focused on the purpose of his visit in the Indian village. He came to see Liwan´s sister, a seven-year-old child, as she was the one for whom Liwan needed the disinfectant. She got hurt while playing with other kids nearby the city and unfortunately, some infection got into her injury, which couldn´t have been healed with the usual Indian methods. She had a high fever and was very weak. There was a real danger that if she would catch any illness, which was highly likely in those days, it could have killed her. It was just a small scratch. But something stronger than herbs was necessary, so Liwan came to Bozeman for the medicine.
Kame was happy to see the little girl was obviously better. She was sitting covered with three blankets right next to the shaman of the tribe – her father - who was playing a hand-made flute, together with a few of other kids, who were listening to the sound just carefully as she was.
Kame let one of the Indian women take care of his mare and went around wigwams to the center of the pueblo, where this nice group was sitting. Unnoticed by the children yet, he crouched down to small Beara. He didn´t want to interrupt the performance, which brought up some memories from his childhood, so he just sat down and waited till the man stopped playing.
"I´m glad you´re better," he said in a quiet voice then.
Beara stopped clapping her hands and her head turned to Kame.
"Kazuya!" she smiled at him excitedly. "Liwan said you here morning."
Indians kids´ English was far away from being perfect, but it was understandable. That was something not many tribes were able to accomplish.
"I was, but you were sleeping."
"You stay?"
"No, I have to go back. I´m sorry, Beara."
The girl pouted unsatisfied: "Not."
She dug herself from the blankets and sat on Kame´s lap with the hands around his neck. He just sighed and decided he could stay a little longer. He took one of the blankets from the pile and covered the girl in his arms. Beara made herself comfortable with the self-confident expression despite the dark circles under her eyes from the long fight with the infection.
Kame caught a glance from the old shaman, who was still sitting next to them at the wooden stump, and he lowered his head in the sign of respect. The shaman spoke to him in his native tongue, as he always did.
"How is your mother doing?"
It was useless to lie to this wise man and try to look optimistic, Kame knew that very well. The shaman would have noticed the truth anyway.
"Unfortunately, it´s still the same," he replied. "And she has some troubles with sleeping."
"I see. I prepared some herbs for her; you can take them with you. I will add something for a good sleep, too."
"Thank you, she will be glad. She likes the tea from you very much."
"And what about you?" the Indian raised another question. "What is the work like in that… place?" Shaman wasn´t very fond of him working as a bartender; he had only the worst ideas about the saloon.
"Busy," Kame said shortly. "But Mr. Harada pays enough and on time, so I will handle it."
"But these medicines and doctors you buy for your mother are not helping, right?"
Kame avoided the sharp and heavy glance. He just had to keep up his hopes… What else would his efforts be for then?
"Not yet…"
Shaman just nodded his head. He didn´t say anything else, he understood the situation Kame was in. Kame rather focused on the small fire nearby, with the resting child in his arms. He had already had enough troubling thoughts for one day...