Everybody else was already inside, when Jin entered the room, which was almost too warm in comparison with the cold February evening outside. The Riders were either sitting on the long benches around the dining table, or standing near the walls. Oswald was busy with the fireplace, and Jane made herself comfortable on the table, her long legs hanging above the floor and Leo occupied the only available, and quite old, armchair in front of her. Frowning Esler was standing right next to his young boss, with arms crossed over his chest. The up-until-now-spacious room was overcrowded, as there were twelve people now, and paradoxically silent. But there was only one person about whom Jin really cared at the moment.
The latest visitor of the hidden cottage was sitting on a chair almost exactly in the middle of the room. Koki was the only one of the Riders, excluding Leo, who was not piercing the young man with his eyes.
When Kame´s look met with Jin´s for a brief moment, the older one´s attempt for an encouraging smile turned out pitifully, even though he really wanted to cheer him up.
"Thanks for joining us, Brother," the Riders´ leader disturbed the anxious silence.
Not very willingly, Jin focused on his younger brother. He could not read anything from Leo´s expression and was a little worried about what to expect.
"We can start then," Leo leant forward a little, making sure he had everyone´s attention. "I asked Kame to tell us everything he knows about Harvey first."
A doubtful murmur filled up the room. Jin was surprised as well; he did not expect Kazuya to be the first one to talk.
"And before that I´d like to remind you that this will be a serious discussion and not haggling at the market, which you demonstrated a while ago," the younger Akanishi added in a cold voice, before turning toward the youngster in the middle of the room. "Kame, you can start."
At first sight, Kazuya seemed to be calm and composed, but Jin noticed how he avoided all those sharp stares around and how he licked his lips before he started talking. Naturally, he was nervous about the outcome of this conversation.
Jin definitely felt no better than him, especially when he still did not get his weapons back. But he had already tried to persuade the Riders; now he could do nothing more than to stand next to Ryo and hold his tongue back not to make the situation even worse.
"I met him at the Blake Street Saloon," Kame spoke in a little uncertain voice. "By chance, he overheard when I asked about Jin, who was supposed to be accommodated there, and he figured we might cooperate in search after Leo, since I knew his brother. He assumed I was after the reward as well, and I thought that I might find you easier that way, so I agreed."
"How did you know that our dear older Akanishi should have been in that saloon?" a sharp question came out from Esler´s mouth, of course.
"Because I sent him a telegram about the meeting point," Jin cut in sooner than Kame could reply. The stares turned to him. So much for his resolution to keep his mouth shut. "We had agreed on that in Montana already. Did you receive it, Kame?" he asked the younger one in a little different tone.
Kazuya´s eyes found Jin´s again and his expression eased up a little.
"I did," he nodded. "But at the time I arrived you were already gone."
"On my way to Leo," Jin completed. "With you, guys," he shot a glance at unsatisfied Esler.
"Anyway, we started the search together," Kame continued. "I thought that if it came to the worst, at least I would be able to warn you or prevent him from succeeding in his mission. I wanted to use that hunter, but in the end I realized that he was using me."
"What do you mean?" Koki frowned over that statement curiously.
"All that time we traveled together, Harvey was trying to get information out of me," Kame replied. "About Jin, about his brother, anything I could remember; even if it would be just assumptions. He´s the type of person, who is able to use anything for his benefit. Moreover, he was really well-informed, maybe even too well. He knew your gang is focused on the ambushes of deliveries belonging to certain Horace Tabor and he was quite sure you have a spy among his servants."
Leo and Esler exchanged surprised looks, while the others seemed to be disturbed as well. Kame gained more certainty, noticing that everybody listened to him carefully and took a breath to tell them more.
"Harvey also said that he had a spy there as well, and he was informed about that big delivery to Leadville´s Bank. When we arrived to Leadville, he went to talk directly with the banker, which seemed odd to me. He came out with the info that the coach was about to arrive today, by that old north road, so we proceeded there right away. From how top secret it was supposed to be, I didn´t expect you to appear, but Harvey was really confident about it. As if he knew, you knew," Kame continued seriously and firmly, causing even more displeased expressions to appear in the Riders´ faces. "After the ambush we followed you, and then he suggested splitting our ways. He told me that he knew a shortcut to some closed silver mine, which was in the direction you went. Only later I figured that he had probably noticed some of you realized we were following you and he escaped before you would get to us. And the rest of it you already know…"
The following short silence was tense, but somehow it was not so hostile towards the youngster anymore. Even Esler seemed to be bothered about the new information more now.
"I don´t like it," Ryo snorted as the first. "How could he know about our informer?"
"I see only one explanation of that," Esler stated slowly.
"You mean that Tabor had realized he has an over-talkative rat close to him?" Leo murmured thoughtfully.
"Exactly," the man nodded. "And that would mean that Harvey works for him."
"That would perfectly explain all the information he had," Kame spoke again suddenly. "He mentioned something about his sources, but he never explained it any further."
Hearing the words, and remembering his weird feeling when they found out that only two guards were accompanying the delivery, Jin had realized something.
"But in that case, if he was so sure you guys would ambush the delivery… They might have let that info leak on purpose," he stated and the others gasped for breath, suddenly very upset.
"Then the bank delivery was a trap," Leo noted, frowning darkly. "For Harvey to be able to follow us after…"
"Shit," Ryo snorted, already connecting all the information together. "If that´s the case..."
The youngster rushed out of the door like a tornado, with others staring wordlessly for a while, before another very loud ´shit´ came from the corridor. Ryo was back with one of the stolen bags in his left hand and in the other, he held some notes. His face was awfully pale.
Leo stood up from his armchair promptly: "Don´t tell me that…!"
"There´s like fifty dollars," Ryo informed them, gritting his teeth. "The rest is just a useless pile of papers."
The shocked Riders reacted with many curses, silent Oswald just stood there motionless, the disappointment curved in all his facial features, while Leo stiffened like a statue.
"It was a trap," Koki kicked the nearest unoccupied chair, so that it flew to the opposite wall with a satisfying noise.
"We´re screwed," Ryo let the bag fall to the floor.
"And who´s the pessimist now, huh?" Esler grunted. "There still might be the real delivery coming," he added, when the non-understanding looks turned to him.
"That´s right," Leo admitted, but didn´t sound much positive.
"But if they knew about your spy, they might have tried to figure out who it was with this leak as well," Kame said, as Harvey´s behavior and arrogant talks before made sense to him finally.
"Hell! You´re right!" Ryo exclaimed.
"That might mean we´re without our informer now," Esler grunted.
"No money, no information, the bounty hunter on our backs… Anyone has anything optimistic?" Koki complained loudly.
"We have a new ally," Leo stated slowly, and everyone went quiet again. Anxious Kame glanced at the young leader and Jin held himself back not to interfere this time. "My brother trusts Kame and I trust him as well now. But I want you all to decide if we let Kame stay among us or not," Leo continued seriously.
Nobody said a thing. Then Esler moved and stood in front of Kame. All Jin´s muscles tensed up, watching the man´s movements closely, while Kame looked up to him.
"Why are you here?" Esler asked sharply.
It took a while before Kame replied: "Because I wanted to help Jin to find his brother."
"Why?" Esler asked again immediately.
"Because Jin is my friend," the younger one answered the question firmly.
The gunman kept silent for a while, before his right hand moved and grabbed Kame´s shirt, pulling the younger one up from the chair. Jin made a step forward, before a strict look of his younger brother warned him more than clearly not to do anything hasty.
"A friend," Esler repeated. "Nice. And I´m supposed to believe you´re such a helpful buddy, right?" the gunman snapped directly in Kame´s face. "Everyone would go after that reward at the first opportunity, but not you?"
Kame´s hands were firmly clenched in fists, but remained alongside his thighs; he didn´t resist the grip, wisely deciding it would be in vain, anyway.
"Not me," he confirmed relentlessly, already quite upset.
"Why would you care so much?" Esler kept asking.
"I said that…"
"We heard that already!" the gunman interrupted him rudely. "Why are you willing to do so much for him?!"
"Because I have nobody else left!" the suppressed emotions burst out from Kazuya, as he exclaimed so loud, that Jin flinched. The younger one was breathing heavily, and in his eyes, there was something what made even Esler shut up. "Except of a few Indians, who once saved my life, I have nobody else I really care about!"
Esler went numb, still gripping on Kame´s shirt, but he was very silent now, as well as the rest of the room. Jin felt a hard squeeze inside of him, almost painful, but at the same time somehow comforting.
Leo approached the gunman and grabbed his shoulder: "Cullen…"
Finally, the gangster stepped back slowly, and Kame remained standing there with the expression, which left no doubt that he was deadly serious in what he had said. Esler retreated to the fireplace, while Leo stood next to Kame and ran his eyes over everyone in the room.
"Who is for Kame staying here with us?" he asked slowly.
Some Riders glanced at each other hesitantly, but only Koki stepped forward: "Naturally, I´m all in," he stated with a grin.
Jin took a breath to say something too, but Leo beat him to it: "I know about you, Jin," he stated not without understanding in his voice. "Your opinion is more than clear."
"I agree, too," Ryo joined in slowly.
"Good," the gang´s leader took his vote into account.
"If somebody takes responsibility for anything this youngster messes up, I will agree," Cullen stated suddenly, still turned by his back toward them. "But not Akanishi," he added immediately, as if he knew that Jin was more than ready to take that task on himself.
"Then I will do it," Koki announced firmly and looked at Kame. "I owe you much more than just this."
Cullen glanced back at the blonde one, not very pleased, but he nodded in the end: "Fine."
"Is anyone against it?" Leo asked then again, looking around others, and also at Oswald. He waited for a long minute, and although nobody else expressed their agreement, nobody objected to his proposal either.
"It´s decided then," Leo stated with a relief.
Kame seemed quite surprised about the change of atmosphere, while Jin still didn´t believe the result. The Riders were glancing at one another, but no argument was in the air.
"We will solve the rest tomorrow," the young leader announced then. "With that fake delivery and so on… It was a long day, all of you need some rest and I seriously need a drink," he sighed.
Jane slipped down from the table and she was by his side right away, taking Leo´s hand into hers.
"And some dinner as well," she added, already dragging him out.
Gradually, all other Riders followed their leader outside, most of them with the last, now more curious than hostile, looks at Kame. On his way out, Esler approached the young newcomer once again.
"I´m watching you," he warned Kame in a dark tone and left the room before Jin could snort something.
Only Ryo was left then and he stepped to their new companion hesitantly as well.
"Hey, Kame… Uhm," the Rider scratched his chin sheepishly, observing Kame´s purple bruise at the same place guiltily. "I´m sorry for how we treated you back there…"
But Kame shook his head: "It was understandable. I would be surprised if you trusted me right away."
"Well, anyway… We were not nice at all, so…"
"Apology accepted," Kame assured the other one firmly, saving him from the anxious blabbering and offered him a hand, which relieved Ryo grabbed into a firm handshake.
"I´m Ryo. Nice to meet you, Kame. I´ll invite you for a beer later as a little compensation, what do you say?"
"I will appreciate it," Kame nodded.
"Good," Ryo smiled and headed to the exit, avoiding Jin on the way widely, as the older Akanishi followed him with not a very friendly stare.
Only a firm, but gentle poke into his ribs made him stop sulking in his anger, which he could not shake off.
"Jin… Don´t stare like that," Kame approached him.
"I won´t forgive them so easily," the older one snorted. "You´re all beaten up," he noted indignantly.
"I´ve been worse already... They didn´t know me," the younger one reminded him. "That is enough of an excuse."
"Not for me," Jin insisted.
A short sigh escaped the younger´s lips, as if Kame expected nothing else. Looking into the other´s eyes, Jin had realized that they were left alone in the room, with everybody else already outside.
It still felt like a dream that Jin could see Kame´s face again. It was not so long since they had separated in Bozeman, but at the same time, it was like ages and Kame seemed even prettier to him than he remembered. Sometimes during past weeks, Jin imagined what their reunion would have been like and it usually ended with him suffocating the younger one in his arms. Now, he was observing Kazuya with that wish filling up his mind, but somehow he could not make himself to move. A part of him was still listening carefully, if no one was going back inside and he had a feeling it would not end up with just hugging...
"How was the journey down here?" Jin asked, with his hands hidden deep in the pockets.
"A long one, difficult," Kame answered with a sigh. "But Liwan helped me out a lot. I would not have made it so quickly without him."
"He traveled with you?" the older one asked with a surprise.
"Only till Cheyenne, then he had to go back."
"Because of the tribe, right?" Jin figured. "How are they? Did the movement go well?"
"Yes, we managed it soon enough," Kazuya nodded. "There was still enough space for everyone in that reservation. They were doing fine, when we had left."
"Glad to hear that," Jin´s face went serious then: "Did you really come across Grenet on the way?"
"Unfortunately," Kame was not happy about the topic either. "He stole Ukushi from me in Fort Collins."
"What?!" Jin breathed out shocked.
"He noticed me before I realized he was even there. But I managed to find her and get her out, along with Koki," Kame explained hastily, seeing the shock and worry at the other´s face.
"So you didn´t confront with him?" Jin needed to make sure.
"Not at all, for which I´m quite happy, you can imagine," the younger one reacted.
"I do," Jin murmured gloomily.
"Anyway, I´m glad that you found your brother in the end," Kame stated then. "You two are more alike than I would have expected."
"Tell me about it… What did you talk about?" Jin asked curiously. "You were closed up here for quite long."
"He wanted to know how the two of us met and such stuff…"
"Hmm, and what did you tell him?"
"Well, the truth?" Kame raised an eyebrow over the question.
"Ah… Right, but…" the older one shifted from one foot to another and then Kame understood why Jin was so anxious suddenly.
"Not about us, of course," he added quietly.
Jin gulped down and studied the younger´s features for a while. Kazuya seemed to be aggrieved, which pinched him with guilt. He didn´t mean it in a bad way…
"Do not take me wrong. I´m really happy to see you again, Kazuya," he stated slowly, with his eyes sinking into the other´s.
The younger one´s stance relieved some of its tension then, when Kame smiled: "Me too, Jin."
There was just one meter of space between them – so close and so far at the same time. Jin didn´t fight the urge to overcome it anymore, making a step forward, just when Kame did the same, so they ended up so close they could feel each other´s breath at their faces.
Kazuya´s smile turned even brighter, seeing Jin raising his hands, when the loud steps from the corridor made them flinch back.
"Where are you two?!" Koki appeared in the door. "Aren´t you hungry? Come on, we have beer and boar roast!"
Jin wondered if he should be more upset at the unwelcome disturber, or at himself, for not being able to act faster, because Kame seemed to be disappointed and he didn´t like that.
When none of them moved, the blonde one stomped inside the room and grabbed Kame´s shoulders, pushing him out uncompromisingly, with Jin going after them, working hard on covering his annoyance. But they were stopped right in the corridor, as the tall brunette was standing in the middle of it, with the hands crossed over her chest.
"What do you think you´re doing?" she asked Koki reproachfully.
"How does it look like?" the gangster grinned at her. "We´re all thirsty, Jane, do not keep us!"
"I think that our newbie would welcome a little of water instead of beer," the woman reacted, pointing at Kame´s face. "Did you even notice what did you do to him?"
"Me!?" Koki exclaimed indignantly, while Jin was just sulking behind; he knew very well what Jane meant. "I didn´t do anything to Kame!" the blonde one looked at the younger´s face again. "Well… The others did…"
Kame´s chin and neck were stained with blood as well as his shirt, there was also an awful scratch over one of his temples and his coat was torn apart. He didn´t complain; Jin would be surprised if he did, but he was definitely in pain from the beating he had received.
Jane sighed heavily: "You two – get out," she waved two other two away and took Kame´s hand. "And you, come with me."
Not waiting for any disagreement, the brunette pulled Kame behind, leading him to the back part of the house, while Jin and Koki remained speechless in the corridor.
*
The water was not very warm, but it was more than enough for Kame to be satisfied. He was incredibly relieved to get rid of the dried blood and dirt. Brushing his face dry with the soft cloth he felt much better, despite that touching some places on his body ached.
"Here, you can take this," the pretty woman came back to the small room, which seemed to be used as bathroom and storehouse for tools at the same time, handing Kame a black shirt. "It should fit you."
"Thank you," Kame nodded gratefully, glancing at his own, quite damaged, shirt.
"I know the trick how to get the blood off it," Jane murmured, taking it into her hand swiftly. "I can fix it for you later."
Kame felt a little embarrassed by the caring attitude of the woman he didn´t know: "That´s not necessary, I can…"
"Take it as compensation," Jane cut his objections and smiled. "Those guys are not bad, but they act first, and regret later."
Kame rather didn´t argue and put the shirt on, pondering about the reason for Jane to treat him so nicely, especially when she observed the scratches on his face closely.
"Oh, God, this is Cullen´s work, right?" she noted and started to search for disinfection on one of the shelves. "I´ll clean it up, sit down," she pointed at the old chair, on which the container with water was put, so Kame placed it down on the ground first. The woman´s attitude didn´t allow much space for negotiation and it was not unpleasant, when she took care of the injuries, just unexpected.
"I´m surprised they let you be with me alone," Kame stated some of his thoughts aloud, breaking the short silence.
Jane chuckled a little: "Well… Firstly, I can take care of myself. Secondly, Cullen is right behind the door, sharpening his ears. And thirdly, I don´t think you would do me any harm."
Kame observed the woman quite surprised, and flinched a little, when she pressed over one scratch too hard.
"Or should I be scared of you?" she mocked him a little. "You don´t look very dangerous."
"Appearances can be deceptive," Kame objected.
"You don´t have to tell me about it," Jane reacted, somehow sad suddenly. "But I don´t think that's your case."
"Not to mention that the gang would have cut me into pieces, if I dared to do anything, right?" Kame added, already quite relaxed in the woman´s presence.
"Exactly," she confirmed with a wide, but almost a bit scary smile. "Good. It looks much better now… I guess you´d welcome that beer now, wouldn´t you?"