Lone Star 01 Read Free Page A

shoulder, where the edge of the wagon panel had struck her.
    â€œAre you all right?” Ki asked.
    â€œI think so,” she replied, wincing. “It’s bruised or maybe wrenched a little, but nothing feels broken.”
    They rested there for a time, sucking air into their aching lungs, while the storm battered down and the angry river lapped at their feet. Upriver to their right, the rubbled bridge thrust skeletally toward the dismal sky. Downriver, the rapids were collecting the remains of the wagon and the plump carcasses of the team, along with bridge supports and planks, and much of the same mountainous pile of uprooted brush and trees that had collapsed the span. But the rocks were tougher, withstanding the ravaging pressure.
    Jessie was the first to speak. “Gone, Ki, all gone.”
    â€œNothing that can’t be replaced.”
    â€œI know, Ki, but your weapons ...”
    â€œIt’s not good to become too dependent on weapons. They’re merely tools to help in one’s task. There are other tools, other ways. Don’t worry, the task will be done.”
    She nodded, biting her lip.
    â€œAnd our first task,” Ki continued affably, standing and offering a hand to Jessica, “must be to find shelter.”
    Again Jessica nodded, rising and starting with him up the bank to the trail. When he paused on the way to smile encouragingly at her, she managed to respond with a weak smile of her own, sensing that Ki was trying to appear more optimistic than he actually felt. She herself mainly felt anger. As she stumbled over rocks and slipped on the muddy earth, her anger mounted with every step she took, an anger that grew into a grim, purposeful determination to settle the score, barehanded if need be, just as soon as they could reach Eucher Butte.
    Angling back upriver toward the bridge, they came to the trail and began following it west again. They trudged slowly, partly from fatigue, partly through caution. The fourth gunman wasn’t a threat; he was stuck on the other side of the river and probably thought they were dead. But the unexpected ambush had made them wary, alerting them to the fact that they were known to be traveling this way, at this time. And considering that their only weapons were Ki’s shuriken and one remaining cartridge in Jessica’s derringer, which miraculously had come through entangled in a pocket of her slicker, they both figured that, for now, discretion was a better part of valor.
    The trail went along the spine of a low ridge for a while, then came to a plateau overlooking a long stretch of valley ahead. Off to their left, across a weedy field, jutted the angular silhouette of a deserted cabin. From a distance it appeared that some of the roof was missing and the door was sagging on its hinges, but the walls were still standing, and would provide needed protection from the wind and rain. Already Ki could feel a chill seeping through his veins, and though Jessica was uncomplaining, she couldn’t keep herself from shivering.
    They hastened across the field to the cabin, and went inside; then, propping the door closed, they looked about the dim, musty interior. A crumbling fireplace was built against the far wall, the storm echoing mournfully down its tall chimney. The remnants of a wooden stool and bedframe were cluttering one corner, luckily under a portion of the remaining roof, and when Ki checked the broken pieces, he found them to be rotten and relatively dry.
    Swiftly they scraped up the trash and old leaves that littered the floor, piling it all with the broken furniture in the fireplace hearth. Opening his slicker, Ki took from his suit jacket his waterproof box of block matches, and after a few tries, he managed to light a fire.
    Satisfied, he stood for a moment with Jessica in front of the warming flames. Then he said, “I’ll be back in a short while.”
    â€œYou’re leaving? No, Ki, not without