The trees were already leaving the sad grey color of the wintertime behind, but they didn´t reach the spring freshness yet. The sun was playing hide and seek with the soft clouds, illuminating the wild in one moment, and covering it with shadows in another. There were still some places, where the piles of ice-cold snow resisted the rising temperatures and made the air cooler than it really was.
The forest was peaceful and quiet in the manner, which calmed you down and made you believe that you were completely alone in the depth of nature, except the animals and some lonely birds, which didn´t gather enough strength to sing out their joy from the upcoming spring yet.
The old north road was located quite far from the working mines and from the usual track used to access Leadville, so there was no disruption from the blasts or other travelers. The dusk was coming and the shadows under the roof of conifers were deepening slowly, but surely.
"It will be difficult to spot anything if they´re late," Harvey, observing the road from their position on the top of a steep hill with small binoculars, grunted.
"You even know their time schedule?" Kame, crouching next to him behind a group of boulders, asked curiously.
"Trying to be smart now?" the hunter snorted. "Then what do you think? Will that famous leader himself show up here or not?"
"How should I know?" the younger one asked back, checking on Ukushi, who was waiting behind their backs.
"Well, if you know his brother, you may guess how the younger Akanishi could behave," Harvey suggested.
Kame stared at the man without a word.
"Come on… I know you don´t trust me, but we´re cooperating for now, aren´t we?" the hunter reminded him grinning, but still focused on the view in his binoculars. "What´s your opinion?"
The younger one changed the position of his legs, to prevent them from going numb, before he replied: "I doubt he´d have exposed himself so much, but if this is such a big delivery as you said…"
Harvey smirked in a way, which Kame didn´t like much: "It´s a big deal, you can bet. So we assume that Akanishi himself might take part in this ambush, right?"
"Probably," Kame admitted slowly. "If they appear at all…"
"They will."
"You´re pretty sure of it."
The hunter just shrugged and didn´t reply. The more time Kame spent with that man, the less he trusted him. He definitely had to stay on alert and switch sides before anything too bad happened. He really didn´t intend to cause troubles for Jin´s brother, no matter if the older Akanishi was with him already or not.
"And here they go…" his too-much-grinning companion murmured and put his observing tool aside.
Harvey was right; a small coach with strong wheels pulled by four stallions appeared in the curve of the road approximately half a mile away. Except two waggoneers, it was accompanied by two riders, who were dressed in ordinary clothes, despite the fact they expected soldiers; it was probably because of the secrecy. They were moving forward quite slowly, the guards observing the woods on their sides, with two more hours of ride to Leadville in front of them.
"They are slow; it won´t be difficult to follow them," Kame assumed observing the coach rattling on the non-flat road.
"Let´s go then," Harvey commanded, first on his feet.
*
Kame´s anxiety grew with each mile the ugly coach rode on the narrow road. He and Harvey kept following the small company of guards through the woods, keeping their distance, covering themselves in the shadows of densely growing conifers. They had to move very slowly because of that, to avoid being spotted by the gunmen, but it was fast enough not to lose the heavily dragged carriage from their sight.
Fortunately, or maybe not, they didn´t have to wait long for something interesting to happen, as the coach and the riders stopped suddenly. Approaching closer, they found out why. There was a fallen tree right across the road. It might have been a coincidence, but Kame noticed right away that the obstacle was caused by a recent cut, not by a lighting strike or rot.
Without saying a word, both Kamenashi and Harvey led their horses a little further from the road and made sure they were covered from any suspicious glances. They took up their positions just in time.
One of the guards dismounted to check on the tree, probably to find the easiest way how to remove it out of their way, when a harsh order was heard: "Hands up, Misters!"
The stagecoach was surrounded by six men in black so abruptly that it seemed as if they emerged right from the layer of old needles resting on the ground. Ukushi whickered uneasily and Kame quickly leant forward to place a hand across her blowholes. At the same time, he was trying to see as much of the scene on the road as possible. Harvey´s stallion was feeding itself on some first spring grass, while his master glued the binoculars to his eyes again.
The attackers with scarves across their faces seemed to look all the same, it could not be said if there was anyone specific, even if Kame knew those gangsters. None of them seemed any familiar to him.
The second guard, who remained sitting in his saddle, kicked his horse into its flanks in a foolish attempt to escape. But his leg was grabbed by one of the Riders and the man was pulled out from the animal´s back. He fell down with a painful scream, while his horse continued the graceful ride without its rider, rushing around the stump and then further down the road.
The other man just glanced at five rifles aiming at his head; he considered the situation more wisely and let his own weapon land next to his yowling colleague. As for the waggoneers, both men raised their hands up in the air at the second the Riders popped out from the woods.
"I think Tabor should seriously reconsider the salary of his guardsmen," Harvey murmured in a taunting whisper. "They do not exactly tear themselves to protect his money, right?"
Kame didn´t join the hunter´s mocking; Harvey was right, of course, but who would be surprised that those men didn´t want to die like that? Just for money? They surely had families they wanted to come back to.
The following events occurred so quickly, that it almost amazed Kame. The attackers tied all four men in no time, obviously used to that kind of job, while the two of them dragged four wooden boxes out of the coach. The chests had locks, but these were no match for a heavy hammer. Then the Riders placed the poor guardsmen inside the carriage instead of many small bags, which they took into their hands.
While one Rider watched over the cuffed men, to make sure they would not try anything funny, the rest of the gang removed the tree from the way quite easily. Then they slapped the first two horses heavily, making the animals to start galloping forward, with the terrified guards trying to scream in fear through the gags, as the roof-less carriage was shaking from one side to another so much, it threatened to drop its new cargo over the edge any minute.
The gang waited till the sound of the wheels died out and then they dived into the deepening shadows of the forest, with Harvey and Kame in hot pursuit after them. Even though the Riders ambushed the delivery on foot, Kame had no doubt that they had their horses hidden somewhere. And the excited neighing, which they could hear very soon, told him he was right. The thunder of hooves led them further behind the thieves then…
*
"We´ve got it, Leo!" Koki whooped loudly, once he pulled the scarf off his face and waved with two bags in his hand so enthusiastically that one of them hit him over his jaw, making other three Riders laughed out aloud.
Leo and Jin were awaiting the ambush group just a few hundred meters away from the road, guarding the horses for all of them and both watched their arrival with quite a relief. They were supposed to join the attackers too at first, but once they had spotted just four men accompanying the delivery, it was not necessary and Esler proposed the brothers should remain there as a back-up. Leo didn´t protest much, he knew his companions well enough to know they could handle it without him. Jin assumed that Esler wanted to mainly protect the young leader, but he also sensed that the old man didn´t trust him yet.
The mentioned Rider appeared among the trees as the last of the five and he threw a cone directly at Koki´s head.
"Do you have a slightest idea what a silent retreat means?" Esler scolded the blonde gangster, staring at the others, who just started to laugh again, before he approached Leo, shaking his head. "It went without any problems, maybe even too well, I´d say…"
"Don´t be such a grouch, Cullen," Koki stuck out his tongue.
"Too pessimistic as always," one of the others, who was called Patrick, if Jin remembered well, joined the blonde one. "They had no idea we might knew about their top-top-secret delivery. They thought they would be stealthy in the small numbers, heh."
"All of you are too reckless," the older Rider snorted, without paying the laughing bunch much attention. "Anyway, I let Ryo cover our retreat, as you wanted," he told to Leo again.
"Great job, guys," Leo reacted smiling widely. "We will count it later in safety. Now let´s go!"
*
Once the Riders got on their horses, Kame and Harvey had to speed their pursuit up as well, otherwise they would have lost the track of them easily. It was damn hard to do it really quietly, but Kame was used to stealthy movement through the woods, and Harvey was not exactly the noisy one either.
But it seemed that Kame was better at tracking, as he was the one getting them in the right direction twice, spotting some broken twigs or hoof prints in the soft ground. Once he even had to return for the hunter as the man went a little more astray, and found Harvey somehow nervous, at least that was how Kame would describe it.
"Hey… Is anything wrong?" Kame asked rather whispering, when he noticed that the hunter stared at the top of the rock above them frowning.
"Nothing… Just imagining something," Harvey turned his attention to the younger one. "Look, they seem to keep the west direction, right?"
Kame nodded: "More or less, yes."
"There´s an old mine that way, it might be their hideout. I know the shortcut to it. So how about we split and cover more space?" the hunter suggested. "I can overtake them, while you keep going right after them. You´re more than able to, as I see..."
"Well, are you sure about that shortcut?" the younger one was surprised about the hunter´s idea, but it made sense. Like that it was less probable that the gang would slip away somewhere.
"Yes, I am," Harvey nodded self-confident. "I did some job there a year ago. Moreover, one will make less noise than two; we should avoid being spotted as much as possible. It´s not far, just two miles I guess. There´s a difficult terrain around, they must pass it. I will wait for you either there or back on the north road within two hours. What do you say?"
"All right," Kame agreed with Harvey´s reasoning a little hesitantly.
"See you later then," Harvey nodded and spurred his stallion to climb up among some bushes, parting with the direction Kame was supposed to follow. What the bounty hunter said made sense, but still, he watched his figure disappearing between the trees with a strange feeling.
*
Ryo caught up with the rest of the gang soon, but it seemed to Jin he was rushing his horse more than was necessary.
"Well?" Leo was the first one stopping to face him. "How did it go?"
"The coach got to the crossroad, they will be found soon enough," the black-haired Rider informed them, as he reached his leader, but without his usual smile. "But there´s something else. It seems we´re followed, Leo."
Jin was already listening tensely, while the others also noticed something was off and turned their horses back.
"What did you see?" Leo asked frowning.
"Two riders, slipping behind you into the woods. They came from the other side and crossed the road right at the spot of our ambush."
"Maybe they had some back-up after all," Cullen assumed, already at the side of Leo´s horse.
Ryo shook his head seriously, strangely upset: "They don´t belong to Tabor… I think I recognized one of them."
"Who was it?" the Riders´ leader asked tensely.
"I´m not sure, they were far, but… I think it´s that hunter-bastard. I think it was Harvey."
"That son of a bitch who was after us in Wyoming already?" Koki exclaimed. "He´s still alive?"
"I mean to change that soon enough," Ryo reacted darkly.
It seemed that the mentioned man was not exactly popular within the gang. Jin´s brother stared at the still silent woods for a while, thinking, before he turned to Esler.
"Do you think they were expecting us to appear and let us steal that delivery, so that they could follow us then?"
"It is not impossible," Cullen murmured nodding.
"We should deal with them. Like right now," Ryo insisted. "That bighead is breathing for too long already for my taste."
Leo nodded slowly: "We won´t let them find out about our hideout. Even if only because of Oswald."
"We´ll take care of it, Leo. You should continue. It´s you he´s after in the first place," Cullen stated seriously.
"That´s right, that asshole is a walking moneybox," Koki snorted.
"All right, we split up," Leo decided promptly. "Cullen, you, Patrick and Todd – sneak back to face them. Ryo, take Jack and Carl – make a turn and try to surprise them from the side. On foot, leave the horses back here, behind that rock. Me, Jin and Koki will continue in the same direction to keep giving them a track. I doubt they´d notice the change easily; it will be dark soon."
Everybody gathered just as Leo said, immediately ready to rush back.
"And guys," Leo´s voice stopped them yet. "Be careful."
*
The deeper into the woods Ukushi carried her master, the more doubtful Kame was about Harvey´s previous words.
What made the bounty hunter change his victorious mood so suddenly and why would he propose to split up? It wasn´t so convenient to overrun the Riders, no matter if they really headed toward the mines or not; it would have been easier to just keep on their track. So why did Harvey…?
Ukushi snorted a little. Even though the mare did not seem nervous and continued moving, Kame pulled on the reins to stop her and scanned the shadows surrounding them. The forest was quiet and no danger in sight.
What might Harvey have noticed before? What if he thought that they had been noticed? That would make the most sense… If somebody from the Rider´s group spotted them and Harvey somehow realized that, he let Kame ride further as a distraction, while he scrammed or hid himself, waiting for a better chance.
Kame didn´t sense or hear anything strange yet, but still… Maybe there was too quiet around, not to mention darker with each minute.
He dismounted Ukushi swiftly, and led her behind the nearest thick tree, so that her color would not give him out. He left the mare standing there and with all his senses on alert rushed forward a few meters in the same direction and froze, listening to any possible sounds for a while, before he did the same again.
It was for the fifth time he remained absolutely motionless, letting his instincts work, when his caution paid off. There were no sounds of horses, but the footsteps of more than one man. And he heard it much closer, than he would like to, despite the fact that he didn´t see the strangers yet.
Kame glanced around for a convenient spot to hide and he noticed a conifer, which was not so tall, so its branches were low enough, but still could hide him well. As quietly as he was only able to, Kame climbed a few meters up the tree. He settled on the branch, which seemed strong enough and remained motionless.
It took less than a minute before Kame was able to recognize two figures between the trees and hold his breath. Once again, he was reminded to trust his instincts.
The men were proceeding forward very carefully, with guns in their hands, communicating only with gestures. They were clothed in black, that was for sure, and they expected somebody in their tracks. Both Riders walked almost right under the tree at which anxious Kame was hiding. He watched them to continue in the direction from which he came, and where he had wisely left Ukushi; she would have exposed him in no time if Kame had continued with her.
Well, it seemed that the sneaky pursuit would be a little difficult now…
Kame waited till the men´s feet were not heard anymore and he retreated from his hiding spot quickly. There was not much to figure out. He had to hide for the moment with Ukushi and wait until they gave up the search. To hell with Harvey, the hunter was probably long gone. He chose a little different direction than the Riders and climbed over the fallen tree with the intention to get back to his dear mare as fast as possible and…
A loud sound of the trigger made Kame freeze the moment his feet touched the ground again.
"Hands up," the ice-cold voice of somebody, who was probably hiding exactly on that spot, which Kame so unluckily chose for his retreat, hissed with exactly so much threat, which told him that he should rather do exactly what was said.
Kame moved with both his hands slowly up in the air.
"Aren´t you unlucky, boy?" the stranger asked caustically. "I really didn´t expect you come running right into my arms. Turn around, and slowly."
Once again, Kame did as he was told and turned to face the dark mouth of a revolver aiming at his head from a really unpleasant closeness.
"I´d stay still if I were you or my finger might slip," the older man in black clothes warned him with a dangerous smile, before he approached Kame and with one swift move, he collected his gun before stepping back again and hid it somewhere inside his coat.
Then the Rider placed two fingers between his lips and a sharp whistle, similar to a screech-owl, interrupted the evening´s silence.
It was an awfully tense minute, with neither Kame nor the man saying anything, just the revolver between them was announcing quite clearly who had control over the situation. The other two men came back with much more noise than before, and they were leading Ukushi behind them. The mare didn´t seem much disturbed and she just shook her head, once she spotted Kame.
"He hid it close," one of the black man´s companions announced. "No sign of the other one though."
"Clever, boy, but not fast enough," the man threatening Kame snorted. "Check him for more weapons and let´s move."
Quite a young Rider, not much older than Kame himself, searched his clothes properly and found two knives. Then they made Kame move in the same direction he was following the gang before.
To say that he was in big troubles now would be quite an understatement. While hardly keeping his balance under the hard pushes forward, Kame was trying to figure out what to say so that they would believe him…
Quite soon, their group arrived to the small glade, surrounded with a few huge boulders, where the Riders hid their own horses. Before the oldest man managed to prepare the lanterns for some light, a short singing signal came out of the woods and three more Riders appeared.
"You´ve got him, good," one of them noted, seeing Kame between his two captors.
"That bastard scrammed though," the young black-haired man riding, as the last of the three, snapped angrily, marching toward them. "We saw him racing his horse down the road; it was too late to catch up with him."
"Damn," the man, who had his pleasure to capture Kame, reacted annoyed. "Well, at least this one is enough for now," he hung the lantern on a branch above their heads and placed the second one on a small rock, while the others gathered around and observed Kame with obvious dislike.
It was almost impossible, but Kame was still trying to stick onto his composure. He had to try at least. They didn´t shoot him right away, so what was there to lose?
"Would you believe me if I told you, I´m not here because of the money?" he stated, looking right in the oldest man´s face.
It was a mistake. In the next moment, a hard strike into his stomach made Kame bend over and gasp for breath. It was the angry black-haired one who hit him and then grabbed Kame´s arm to keep him standing. One of his companions did the same from the other side and they both pushed Kame back and slammed with him on the nearest tree.
Obviously not… Kame thought helplessly, as he raised his head again, to bear the sharp stare of the oldest man.
"How many of you are here?" the man asked the first question.
Kame took his breath and stated the obvious: "I´m alone."
Another hit almost made him throw up his stomach. Gasping for breath Kame tried again: "I´m telling you the truth…"
This time, the strong blow aimed at his neck from the right side, then there was a kick into his left knee and after that he stopped perceiving the affected places on his body. Three Riders beat him hard, before they picked him up from the ground and forced him to stand straight again.
Kame felt dizzy and sore; there was blood in his mouth, and his guts in a hard clutch. Just how could he explain this to them…?
"Let me give you a piece of advice, boy," the old man snorted. "I don´t like liars."
The rest of the gang kept quiet, with two youngsters still gripping Kame so hard they almost stopped his blood flow, and all of them just stared at him with hostility in their eyes.
"Where did that hunter go?" there was another question.
Kame was in pain and worried, but also determined not to give in to despair so easily. He was so close; he was sure that Jin´s younger brother was the leader of these gunmen, how could he give up now? He had to fight. He looked right into the eyes of the man interrogating him.
"I´m not a liar. I have no idea where he went."
At first, the man wanted to hit him again, but something in Kame´s face, made him hesitate.
"We did follow you together," Kame spoke again hastily, as long as he could. "But we split a while ago. He lied to me about meeting up later."
"Too bad for you," the youngster holding his right arm smirked.
"Who are you?" the old man asked suspiciously.
"Not a bounty hunter," Kame replied firmly. "I´m not after…"
"Then how comes you were with one?" the younger voice cut in once again. The black-haired gangster seemed to be the most upset from all of them.
Kame just cursed in his mind for being so unlucky. If they knew Harvey, they would hardly believe him anything now. The interrogator snatched Kame for his coat and pulled him closer.
"I´ll ask again, boy… Who are you?"
Upset and hopeless Kame tried to shake the hands off him: "You won´t believe me even if I tell the truth!"
He even managed to avoid another hit, as he had expected it and with fear controlling his body, Kame tried to break free. But he was outnumbered.
Two young gangsters shifted with Kame roughly against the bole again, while the older man got a hold of his hair, and with rage in the eyes raised his hand for another painful blow. But the man´s fist never reached its goal, as somebody grabbed the interrogator´s wrist in the last second and held him back.
"What the…!" the Rider snapped at the tall young man, who glared at him from under the rim of his hat.
The rest of the gang stared at the newcomer on the scene surprised as well.
"Hands off, Esler," an angry voice, the voice so well-known to Kame, said with resolution, which allowed no space for objections.
Kame forgot to breathe, as he straightened his head from the cowered position in which he was prepared to receive another hit, afraid to believe his ears or eyes, which found that handsome face so unexpectedly close. The one who came to save him was Jin.