[Fanfic] Red West III. - Chapter thirty
Title: RED WEST III.
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: Another one done... We´ll move around a bit this time, as there is a lot to tell.
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven // Chapter twelve // Chapter thirteen // Chapter fourteen // Chapter fifteen // Chapter sixteen // Chapter seventeen // Chapter eighteen // Chapter nineteen // Chapter twenty // Chapter twenty one // Chapter twenty two // Chapter twenty three // Chapter twenty four // Chapter twenty five // Chapter twenty six // Chapter twenty seven // Chapter twenty eight // Chapter twenty nine //
Passing judgment
The iron bars slammed shut with a piercing screech and a massive key rattled in the lock. In the dim light from the small window, Marshal Botkin watched as the hunched figure of Black Riders´ leader slowly moved forward. Akanishi sat down on the narrow bunk, not paying his new ´accommodation´ more attention than he did to anything around him during their hasty trip to the so-called Magic City.
Seeing their captive properly locked up in one of the secured cells, Botkin finally allowed himself to feel something close to relief. The accumulated stress from thinking about things, which might have gone wrong during their journey, was already causing him a headache. Yet, he did not omit to remind his son to check all accesses to the spacious building and named his deputies for regular patrols, even though Sheriff Brady apparently had enough of his own men at hand.
“Rest assured, Marshal,” the recently elected sheriff whirled with the heavy bunch of keys around his sturdy fingers. “No villain ever escaped from this prison.”
Botkin eyed the conceited man sharply. “That is very reassuring. Therefore, I´m certain you´ll make sure nobody without authorization gets inside either.”
The sheriff scowled: “Should we expect troubles?”
“Not necessarily,” he assumed. “Nevertheless, we should focus on precautions.”
“All right, understood,” Brady nodded, apparently taking the situation more seriously. He handed the keys over to his deputy to hide them in the office, before turning to Botkin again. “I´ve got a message from you from Associate Justice Conger - he´s expecting your report. He requested you to come as soon as possible, preferably today.”
“Supreme Court will be surely at lunch at the moment, sir,” Botkin´s son assumed, leaning toward his father. “We´ve got some time to prepare.”
“It might happen that you´ll find them behind the desk even now,” Brady informed them meaningfully. “It seems they´re working overtime these days.”
“How comes?” Botkin asked. “Anything significant happened meanwhile?”
“Not really,” the sheriff shook his head. “I´ve just heard that a complaint arrived from Washington, regarding lynching in our territory. Conger´s on it like a hound dog.”
Botkin was not surprised. He himself wondered how much longer it would take before the situation with vigilantes in Montana would attract the attention of somebody from the capital.
“I understand. We´ll stop by there today,” he decided. “Keep a close eye on our prisoner, Sheriff.”
“You can count on me and my men,” Brady nodded, his eyes focusing on the motionless figure in the cell. “We won´t let this rare bird fly away, Marshal.”
***
The movements of the black stallion were fast, yet smooth and unusually soft. It was as if Kuro was aware of his rider´s health condition and tried to avoid any difficulties on the road to make the ride as comfortable as possible for him. It also meant proceeding forward in a significantly slower pace, which was getting on Kame´s nerves. Nevertheless, travelling in saddle hurt more than he had been expecting.
Ignoring the sharp bursts of pain in his right leg stole a great portion of his energy. Yet, he just could not bring himself to ask others to stop and have some break more often. His heart kept urging him to rush and it prevailed over the reason and consideration of own physical condition.
They crossed the Yellowstone River near Livingstone, keeping to its right bank from that moment on. The landscape in front of them was endless. Montana had never seemed bigger to him. It felt like it would take ages for them to get to Billings.
Kame stopped Kuro at the top of a low slope, to drink some water and take a breath. Both Koki and Jane on their horses had already overcome it, their figures visible down on the road, as they continued further east. He knew they would stop soon and wait for them somewhere nearby - they never got more than a mile apart from them, as if they were afraid to let him out of their sight. Yet, they gave him some space at least, which he could not say about the over-concerned Indian shaman.
As confirmation of Kame´s thoughts, his blood brother´s stallion snorted on his left side.
“My brother should rest,” Liwan spoke in a worried tone, his dark gaze focused on Kame, who made sure his expression did not reveal what he actually felt.
He took one more gulp of cold water and shook his head determined: “No. We´ll keep going till dark.”
No matter how hard or painful it would be, they had to get to Jin in time. He was not going to consider any other option. One could easily tell that his Indian friend disagreed with his stubborn attitude, yet kept silent this time.
Kuro stomped on the spot impatiently and Kame leant over to pat his neck gratefully: “You´re awesome, just keep going like this, okay?”
The black horse snorted almost haughtily, letting him know that he was planning nothing else.
“All right,” Kame focused on the long road in front of them again. “Let´s move on.”
***
Apart from many other attractions, Denver was quite famous for its lavish gambling houses. As the great city grew in the heart of Colorado, gambling opportunities arose along with it, from cheating three-card frauds to high-stakes poker and Faro games. Successful gamblers were widely well-known personalities, usually dressed smartly and wore expensive jewelry, each of them gaining their moment of glory before the fortune inevitably turned its back on them.
With his candidacy for Senator, Horace Tabor could not afford to be known for gambles, no matter how much he enjoyed playing for high stakes. That was why he never visited any of the city casinos and built up his own gambling room instead.
It was hidden in the underground of Opera House. Therefore, while noble ladies attended some boring theatric performances, their husbands spent their time there with a different kind of amusement. Naturally, Tabor invited only the closest of his acquaintances and business partners to join him, so it was never as crowded as the usual gambling houses in the city and it limited the danger of anyone slandering him as well.
That afternoon, luck was with him. He had already won two poker rounds, and it was his turn to shuffle the pack for the next one. He was just about to call Bernard to light another cigar for him, when his black manservant approached him inconspicuously from behind all by himself.
“The messenger is here, sir,” he whispered right in his ear.
Horace stopped shuffling the cards and gave the man a sideway look. “They finally got the telegraph network working again?”
Bernard nodded: “It seems so, sir.”
“My apologies, gentlemen,” he looked around the disinterested faces of his opponents. “You´ll have to do without me for this round,” then he passed the pack over to the mayor and got up from the brightly lit table.
The mentioned errand boy was waiting in the small cloakroom. Among many of his servants and employees, Horace quite liked working with this one - the slender young man was fast and reliable.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Tabor,” the fair-haired messenger bowed a little, swiftly pulling out a few small envelopes from the apparently new leather bag hanging from his shoulder. “The postmaster collected your mail first.”
“Good, it was about damn time,” Horace commented as he took the paper pile over. “You´re… Jack, is that right?”
“Yes, I am, sir.”
“Go grab something at the refreshment bar on my account.”
The young messenger smiled: “Thank you, sir. I´ll stay there as long as you need.”
Horace waved him off, telling himself that it paid off to raise his salary. The boy even understood very quickly, it would be a shame if he left to work for someone else for a higher reward.
The first short message was from Augusta. It seemed she concluded her foolish trip safely, informing him that his grandson was born healthy and vital. And of course, she dared to remind him that he should congratulate his son at least. As if he would not able to think of it by himself.
Horace pushed the crumpled paper into the patiently waiting Bernard´s hands. He genuinely wondered why everybody complained about dangerous travels through the former Indian territories all the time. His dear wife had apparently no issue at all to get wherever the hell she wanted.
Then he stared at the second, significantly shorter telegram in quite a surprise:
To: Horace Tabor, Denver, Colorado
From: Cameron Henderson, Bozeman, Montana Territory
MARSHALS ARRESTED AKANISHI STOP OTHER RIDERS IN HIDING STOP HEADING TO BILLINGS FOR TRIAL STOP WILL LET YOU KNOW ABOUT VERDICT END
Horace could not help but start grinning like a weasel in a hen house.
That was some news indeed! There was no message from that calculative man for weeks and now this? Just how did he accomplish it? No matter the rest of that annoying gang was still on escape, if they arrested their leader, it was a much bigger success than he was even hoping for after all those previous failures.
“Bernard!” Horace looked up from the telegram feeling quite enthusiastic. “Get the best whiskey in this building for me, I´ve got something to celebrate!”
The manservant nodded and left to arrange the order right away.
Still in surprised disbelief, Horace started to open the third envelope: “Holy crap, really,” he murmured while pulling another paper to the light of kerosene lamps. It seemed that Henderson was not just talking into the wind. He was thinking about sending a letter to the judge in Billings to find our more details.
Horace began to read a short letter still humming satisfied, before he fell silent at the second sentence.
Dear Lieutenant Governor,
please, note that our branch office in Montana Territory notified us about the arrest of the Black Riders´ leader - Jin Akanishi. There has been no sign of other gang members in more than six months.
In the light of these facts, take into account that a special military unit assigned to chase after the gang has been dissolved.
For more information, contact Sergeant Perry.
With kind regards
Dave Cook
The Denver City US Marshal
He gaped at the letter, and then he shifted it with the telegram from Henderson again.
What is this…? Jin Akanishi? Not Leo?
Bernard just appeared by his side, with the thick bottle and glass on a silver tray, when Horace Tabor snapped.
“What the hell! What is this stupid joke?” he waved with the paper in front of the surprised servant´s eyes.
“Sir?” already familiar with his employer´s outbursts, Bernard stepped back a little.
“Get me that boy! I need him to bring me someone from the Marshals´ office right now!”
***
“Hey! Akanishi!” the mocking voice echoed throughout the cold corridor with cells. “They say you turned yourself in, is it true?”
Their silent prisoner did not respond, and probably neither he moved from his sitting position with a hat covering his face, as Brady had seen him a while ago. However, the lack of reaction did not discourage the curious guard.
“I wonder why in the hell would you do it?” the tall man with overgrown, thin hair kept on inquiring. “Did you get bored playing the new Jesse James?”
Brady put down the newspaper and leaned back in a creaky chair, so that he had a direct view on his subordinate. “Hank, stop it. We´re supposed to watch over him, not mock him.”
The most irksome of his men grimaced: “You´re no fun, Sheriff.”
“And you should learn to take your job more seriously,” he countered coldly.
“If I offered to beat the names of others out of him, would that count?”
“It would not, forget it. Not to mention that Akanishi is the Marshals´ prisoner. It´s not our place to question him. Better get us something for dinner instead of fooling around.”
Annoyed Hank snorted, yet he moved away from one of the two currently occupied cells and left the office to do the sheriff´s bidding. Already alone, Brady shook his head with a sigh. If that ill-mannered man was not such a great shooter, he could do without him.
He reached out for the huge tin mug, but he barely managed to take one sip from his already cold coffee, where there came an energetic knock on the door and another of his men entered.
“Some military control arrived for a change, boss,” he announced with a significant grin and moved aside to make way for a tall man in US Army uniform.
Brady stiffened at first, but then he recognized the clean-shaved soldier with sharp blue eyes and stood up to welcome him.
“John! It´s good to see you again, man!” he crossed the room to shake the old friend´s hand whole-heartedly.
“Likewise, Philip,” Captain Walker smiled at him slightly. “And congratulations - I knew you´ll get your hands on that shining star one day.”
He grinned: “I was just lucky that all the people who know me came to vote.”
“True enough,” his deputy confirmed it cheekily and closed the door readily, before he could scold him.
For the moment, Brady let the man get away with it and focused on his visitor: “Do you want coffee? I´ve got some left, though it´s quite strong,” he pointed at the kettle on the small stove.
“I´d like that, thanks,” the captain accepted the offer. “Stronger the better.”
“A rough day?”
“Something like that,” John confirmed, taking the full mug with a steaming liquid from him gratefully.
“Well, I´d offer you something stronger, but I see you´re on duty, right?”
The captain nodded, already serious: “Exactly, so no thanks.”
“When did you return to Montana?”
“Two weeks ago, for a vacation actually. Nevertheless, my superiors decided I´ve already rested enough, so they happily tasked me with the current situation.”
“So, you´re in charge of the city security now, huh? That´s tough...”
“Job like any other,” the captain assumed, sipping the coffee carefully. “So? Any problems so far?”
“Not at all, our precious prisoner is rather boring,” Brady gestured toward the cells and lowered his voice. “I can imagine it must suck that Botkin outran you when you had been chasing after the Riders for so long…”
The captain´s expression stiffened a little: “…it doesn´t really matter who caught him.”
“Yeah, I guess you´re right about that,” Brady admitted.
“Hey… Hey! Let me out!” the hoarse voice suddenly yelled from the dark corridor. “Right the fuck now!”
“And here we go again,” he commented sighing. It seemed their other prisoner - a rather violent drunkard whose favorite activity was making a mess in the local saloons - had just woken up.
The sharp banging over the bars sounded through the whole building. “Does anyone hear me, damn it?!”
“Excuse me for a minute, John,” Brady apologized and headed to the cells hastily. “Shut it, Rogerson, or I´ll let you rot here for real,” he threatened while walking.
“You´ve got no right for that!” the unknown man continued complaining loudly.
“Do you wanna bet?” the sheriff reacted mockingly.
John put the coffee mug aside and followed his friend to the corridor with cells curiously. There was a part of him, which wanted to make sure. Leo Akanishi did not strike him as a careless man, so the news about his arrest surprised him a lot.
Brady was still persuading the drunkard to calm down, as John stopped by the other occupied cell. He did not know if it was a good idea to face that young man, but something indescribable poked him to it.
He eyed the slender figure sitting in the darkest corner of the cell. A somewhat familiar huge hat was covering his face, the dark hair escaping from under it and falling down to shoulders and he really looked like the young Black Riders´ leader. However, John knew both brothers now and his eyes widened in surprise right away.
He searched for Philip with his eyes. “Can you tell me what´s the meaning of this?”
“Shut it, Rogerson, or I´ll make you,” Brady snapped at the now quietly mumbling prisoner, before turning to him. “What do you mean, man?”
John pointed inside the cell: “This is Jin Akanishi.”
The sheriff approached slowly, eying John a bit confused. “Well, we know that. Didn´t you read the Marshals´ report?”
“I did, there was no first name,” he uttered. “But he is not the leader of Black Riders!”
“Hey, I know you´ve been after the younger brother the whole time, but what can I tell you?” Brady shrugged. “He confessed.”
John frowned, unwilling to accept such a false accusation: “That´s bullshit, I know this man. He is not…”
“Stay out of this, Captain.”
It was the first time the prisoner in the cell spoke. Both men looked through the bars surprised to hear his deep voice. Jin Akanishi raised his head and his dark eyes buried into John´s. The two men stared at each other without a move.
“Boss! Your dinner´s here!” one of the sheriff´s deputies´ voice called from the office.
Brady patted John´s shoulder. “There´s no point talking to him, believe me,” he said. “Come, we can share some roasted beef,” and with that he walked away.
John did not let his eyes of the hunched figure. He did not get it. He would be able to accept seeing Leo Akanishi here, since he really did some outrageous crimes while leading the gang. However, as far as he knew, his older brother did not do anything so serious to get a hasty trial, which was about to take place the day after with more than a clear outcome. Damn, he rather liked this young man, just as his friend Kamenashi.
He stepped closer, grasping the bars and trying to see the imprisoned man´s face more clearly.
“Why are you here, Akanishi?” he asked in a strained voice.
“…none of your business,” the younger man spoke with such disinterest it brought shivers all along John´s spine.
“Damn it, there´s not even a single lead on your foolish brother! You don´t have to cover up for him!” he whispered urgently.
“But I can, right?” there came a quiet reply.
John had a weird feeling suddenly: “What happened?” he asked tensely. “What made you do this?”
“Who cares?”
He gripped the bars tighter, forcing himself to keep his voice down. “I wonder at myself, but I do! Not to mention I bet that Kamenashi cares as well. Why at least he did not stop you?”
Only now, he received some real reaction from Akanishi. Suddenly, there was nothing but pure pain in his eyes. The gloomy prisoner closed them and leaned his head back over the wall.
“He could not stop me, Captain,” Akanishi whispered hoarsely.
John gulped down heavily: “Why?”
“Because he´s… gone.”
***
Coulson town was just one of many ugly places which popped out of nowhere during the frontier colonization. Yet, this one was somewhat different from others.
Located on the north bank of the mighty Yellowstone River, just a mile away from the quickly growing Billings, it was soon about to be forgotten. Since most of its residents already moved away, the number of graves on the local cemetery called Boothill outnumbered the remaining citizens. There was no church to keep at least believers on the place and a trolley running between the two centers a few months ago was already cancelled. Any, even the simplest disagreement usually ended up in bloody shootout. The latest sheriff - stubborn and brave man - fled from that hole with no regrets. Just walking on the streets of this rough-and-tumbled town without a gun at your belt, you were asking for trouble.
No one in right mind would want to spend more than five minutes at such a place. Ironically enough, all this made Coulson a perfect place for the Black Riders to hide and plan - at least according to their oldest member.
Therefore, they were now sitting in the small pub with tiny windows, full of awful stench and cigarettes smoke.
“And here I thought that I would never drink anything more disgusting than that dishwater they poured in Hell,” Ryo begun their meeting with a sour grimace, pushing away an empty shot.
Cullen finished the careful observation of all present rednecks and drunkards and looked at him wordlessly, yet with apparent annoyance.
“It would benefit you to let your picky tongue rest and drink something non-alcoholic from time to time,” Leo noted mockingly.
“Boring, chief,” his companion clicked his tongue discontentedly.
“Better than blind,” he assumed calmly, cautiously sniffing the content of his beer tankard, before taking a small sip. “So? What did you find out?”
Cullen leant over the table and started talking in a low voice: “They locked him up in the local jail of Sheriff´s Office; the whole building is guarded heavily. Doesn´t look accessible.”
Leo frowned: “I can imagine. Nobody ever managed to escape from there. Anyone who tried ended up sniffing the daises from below.”
“How do you know?” Ryo eyed him surprised.
“Chatted with the locals, some were surprisingly talkative,” he explained.
His companion snorted half-amused, half-terrified: “I´m surprised you survived that.”
Leo shrugged: “What about you?”
“They say the trial´s gonna take place the day after tomorrow or maybe even later. Court building is big and impressive, but not as heavily secured as that jail, I would say.”
“That could be our chance then,” Cullen reacted.
“I agree,” Leo nodded. “We should strike as they will move him between the buildings.”
“If we attack in the right moment, we will create perfect confusion,” the older man added his idea. “There will be many people, a few shots in the air should be enough to make them panic.”
Ryo cleared his throat: “Isn´t it too… bold?”
“You´ve got any better idea?” Leo asked plainly.
“Well, we can always try to blow that prison up.”
He shook his head right away: “Too risky, we´d have to find out Jin´s exact location. Not to mention there would be many casualties. I´m not willing to sacrifice anyone innocent, if we can avoid it. Not anymore.”
“All right… It´s the trial day then,” Cullen summarized. “We need some proper artillery for that and a horse for your brother.”
“Yeah, we´ve got many things to arrange… But we can do it, guys.”
***
Justice Everton Conger had encountered many various types of criminals during his practice. He arrived for the newest trial convinced that some naive gunslinger would not be able to surprise him no matter how famous he was. Yet, this Jin Akanishi seemed to be a little special case.
The courtroom was huge, but unusually half-empty. The trial was open to public, but they intentionally did not announce the date officially, so hardly anyone knew about it happening. Conger considered it exaggerated, but Marshal Botkin insisted on keeping the whole matter quiet, justifying it with safety precautions. Therefore, there were a few people in the public benches, both locals and strangers, but most of the present were employees of the Supreme Court, Sheriff Brady´s men, a few military officers and some US Marshals.
Hardly ever any criminal walked out of his trials without a death sentence on his or her head. As came for this Black Riders´ leader, there was quite a list of various crimes, of which the US Marshals´ representative accused him - from a mere bank robbery, through dynamite blasts with civil casualties, to the cheeky attack on Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. It took a while to read them all and considering the seriousness of those allegations, Conger could come up with only one verdict. Even though there were things, he had heard about this gang, which could have softened his harsh decision…
They were quite popular among common folks, who apparently saw them as some kind of Robin Hood´s band. No wonder, most of the time they robbed only very rich people and not counting those dynamite incidents, they could have been considered as quite a peaceful gang in comparison with bastards he usually had to deal with. Yet, for him to even take those facts into consideration, Akanishi would have to truthfully testify regarding all the accusations. Instead, he reacted in a way, which actually surprised Conger a lot.
After naming all the charges, the experienced judge expected curses, excuses, apologies or pleads for mercy. However, from the young man came nothing of that sort. Conger´s hand with an expensive pencil for notes stiffened, as he heard Akanishi actually speak up.
He raised his head from the counter and looked at the accused bandit standing in front of him through his glasses. “You confess?” Conger repeated slowly.
“Yes,” Akanishi confirmed, once again in that deep, disinterested tone.
He blinked and eyed the seemingly endless list on his counter again. “To all points of charges?”
“That´s right. Except that mine.”
The judge stared at him: “The mine?”
“The golden mine in Bozeman, sir,” the Marshals´ representative hurried to explain. “There has been an accusation by its owner that Black Riders blew it up out of revenge.”
“I see,” Conger flipped through the pages, finding the related part, and then looked at Akanishi again. “Why not to this one?”
Surprisingly enough, the accused suddenly seemed somewhat annoyed. “I already said at least ten times that the Riders had nothing to do with that fucking mine,” he growled.
That was curious. It would not help him even a bit as came to the final sentence, yet Akanishi insisted to be innocent in particularly this accusation? He was telling the truth in that moment, Conger could tell. However, what it would say about the rest of his statements?
Their audience seemed to get restless, when the judge did not speak for a while. He altered his glasses and looked into papers again. He had no time to ponder this man´s motives, there were other important matters to deal with.
“All right then… As for the rest of charges - do you feel guilty?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have anything to say for your defense?”
“No.”
Akanishi could not have made it any easier for him. Yet, from some reason, Conger was not very thrilled about it. Even though he was busy and had no time to waste for someone who apparently already gave up, it did not seem right.
Conger had seen many villains on that bench, but hardly ever anyone so surrendered to their destiny. Jin Akanishi seemed like someone who could not wait his life to be over. Then the least he could do was to make it quick for him.
*
They arrived to Billings just in time to verify the situation and act accordingly. Cameron had his resources in the city and it was not hard to find out the local authorities´ plans with the alleged Black Riders´ leader.
Now, as he watched the Sheriff´s men leading the oblivious convict away, he thought he would feel satisfaction, joy or peace. But he could not find any of these emotions in himself; it just felt weird. This was not how he wanted the things to turn out.
Akanishi did not resist at all, he actually seemed too broken to care about anything. There was nothing in front of that cheeky brat who dared to raise his hand against Cameron´s mentor, only the short walk to the gallows. However, was it even enough?
“Mr. Cameron? We should go…”
He did not turn to anxious Danny until Akanishi´s figure disappeared from his sight.
“Yes… Let´s go,” he slowly stood up from the bench. “Find us some accommodation for two nights,” he ordered Danny flatly, before heading outside the court room first.
***
“There´s a letter for you, Mother,” Nathaniel Tabor announced as he entered the warmed up salon of his house.
Augusta looked up from a thick book surprised.
“For me?” she asked doubtfully. For Horace to reply it was a way too soon. “Thank you,” she took the small envelope over. “Would you like some tea?” she offered her son.
“No, thanks, I´ll check on the little one first,” Nathaniel shook his head and left her alone.
She put her evening reading aside on the small table, which already served as space for the kettle with the mentioned hot liquid inside. Then she tore the envelope open, pulled out a small piece of paper and eyed those few sentences apparently written in a hurry.
Augusta´s eyes widened and then she frowned displeased. She tapped over the letter for a while, pondering its content, before she swiftly stood up and left to the main hall.
“Grace!” she called as she was already heading up the stairs. “My dear, I need a favor!”
Her daughter-in-law appeared at the simple railing apparently surprised by her urgent tone. “Yes, Mother?”
“Would you please borrow me the most impressive dress from your wardrobe?”
***
The hammer strikes resonated through the dark streets of Billings. Most citizens were already asleep, or at least they pretended not to hear the tireless works on the square. On the other hand, there were also those who were excited about the upcoming gloomy spectacle. No matter the late hour, they were eager to express their opinions over drinks and cards.
A sudden gust of wind from the Rocky Mountains ruffled the dust on the main road, made the hangman cough and halt his thorough hammering. Yet soon, the tall sinewy man resumed his work and other heavy hits disrupted the peace of night, as well as a nap of some small child, whose crying could be heard from one of the houses nearby the Sheriff´s Office.
All those noises also reached the prison cell in the back part of the building. Nevertheless, Jin sitting on the bunk and leaning against a wall did not hear them. He could not make himself care about the ominous sounds, even though each hit meant one step closer to his own death. Instead, he rather let his mind sink in memories. Some of them were painful, but he clung to them anyway. The images of his Kazuya were hidden deep inside of him, and he was sure they would never fade. However, it was quite certain he would not have a chance to verify it, since the day after this night there was no future for him at all…
Some wandering dog started barking furiously somewhere on the square, but he was silenced soon enough by a rough voice and a hard boot. Once again, only the noises indicating the construction of the portable gallows ruled over the cool streets. Jin frowned nevertheless, disrupted by the barking from his dreaming awake.
A chair in the office on the other side of the short corridor creaked as Sheriff Brady tried to settle himself into more comfortable position. Harsh voices of his men and Marshals pacing around the whole building were heard under the tiny barred window, before they turned around the corner again.
Jin did not want to listen to any of it. He just wanted to go back to his safe castle of memories. He searched for something he could catch on, until his eyes found three rectangles of bluish light on the dirty floor. It was the moon stretching its invisible fingers inside his jail through the window. It was not so long since the warm evening when he and Kazuya had watched the full moon together, before they got distracted by each other´s lips…
*
Something woke Jin up from his short slumber full of weird dreams. In the pitch black of the wigwam, it took him a while to remember the recent hot session and then he realized that he was alone.
On all his four, he scrambled toward the exit and pushed the animal skin aside. The village flooded by the eerie bluish light surprised him. Wasn´t there completely dark when they left the Sun Dance ceremony?
Jin looked up the find out that the dark clouds tore up in the past hour or so and let the full moon shine fully. The ceremonial drumming was still going on, echoing from the edge of the Indian village faintly. And then his eyes caught an outline of familiar figure standing in the shallow water near the shore of the lake.
He wondered what might have made Kame leave their sleeping sanctuary. He reached into the dark for his pants and slowly headed to the lake as well. As he approached, his lover turned to him and invited Jin with a short gesture to join him. He stepped into the water a bit hesitantly, but it was surprisingly pleasant, despite that it was colder than he had expected. He could see a soft smile on Kame´s face, as he grasped his hand firmly and led him even further, to deeper waters…
Their night bath in the lake was cool, but it washed away their sweat and also tiredness. Then they sat side by side on the shore, listening to the sounds from the continuous ceremony.
Jin pulled Kazuya closer, hugging him tight. The moonshine was dancing on the lake´s surface, glittering in tiny sparkles and making the view one of the most impressive things he ever saw. Especially with the young man on his side, whose heartbeat he could feel under his fingers. It was damn unfair that moments like these were so short.
Kame suddenly sighed: “It´s beautiful, isn´t it?”
Jin eyed the view with the huge moon reflecting its cold fingers in the calm water again.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “But only thanks to the fact that you´re sitting here with me.”
Kame gave him a sideway look: “Somewhat tender, aren´t we?” he noted amused.
“Are you surprised?”
“Not really,” he admitted, snuggling even closer. “Jin?”
The sad voice made him tear his eyes off the bright moon, while Kame´s were still focused on it, he could see the moon shape in them.
“Do you think we deserve this?”
Jin frowned a little: “What do you mean?”
“To be together. Happy, like this.”
He did not like how that question sounded at all.
“You´re not the person, who should ask himself such questions,” he scolded him. “Why do you even doubt it?”
“I don´t know… I… We did things, which are not exactly praiseworthy.”
“I believe we do the best we can every damn day.”
His lover looked at him, surprised by his slightly upset tone.
“Jin…”
He reached out and grabbed Kame´s chin.
“I´ve already told you to stop belittling yourself, Kazuya,” he emphasized and seized his lips lovingly.
Kame sighed and returned the kiss, circling his arms around Jin. Then he suddenly chuckled.
“Hey, what is it?” Jin complained, when he pulled away.
“Before you were all sticky, but now you are wet… And still hard,” he added cheekily.
Jin smiled at him meaningfully. “That´s hardly a problem, is it?”
“Yes… Hardly…”
And then they happily lost themselves in each other´s embrace…
*
Jin let go of a shaky sigh and closed his eyes. He couldn´t push that cruel realization back any longer. All those pictures in his mind were only his memories now; Kame was not around anymore… And it still hurt like hell.
That was why he was not scared of tomorrow, even though it was terrifying to know that soon, very soon, the firm snooze would steal his breath forever. There was also a good side to it. Not only that he could save his brother Leo from any more pursuing like that, the most important was that his miserable half-existence would be over as well. And maybe, if there was afterlife as some believed, or even the Eternal Hunting Grounds, maybe he would meet with his Kazuya again…
- To be continued -
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance, Adventure, Historical fiction
Warning: AKame pairing - AU; vulgarisms, violence, explicit content
Beta-reading:
atago4
Summary: A direct sequel of Red West II. - Masterpost
A strange company of three young gunslingers and one Indian is on their way to Montana, while the infamous Black Riders continue their fight against Silver King of Colorado… Will they succeed or fail in the clash with the cruel environment and heartless Governor? Will their friendship, brotherhood and love persevere or be destroyed by greed, bloodshed and vengeance?
Thank you: To Kamenashi Kazuya and Akanishi Jin, because this story wouldn´t have existed without them.
A/N: Another one done... We´ll move around a bit this time, as there is a lot to tell.
I´m grateful for any opinion or advice, you help me hone my writing skills with them.
Thank you for taking time to read this story. I´ll be happy if you reward me with a comment for it.
Previously:
Prologue // Chapter one // Chapter two // Chapter three // Chapter four // Chapter five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter eight // Chapter nine // Chapter ten // Chapter eleven // Chapter twelve // Chapter thirteen // Chapter fourteen // Chapter fifteen // Chapter sixteen // Chapter seventeen // Chapter eighteen // Chapter nineteen // Chapter twenty // Chapter twenty one // Chapter twenty two // Chapter twenty three // Chapter twenty four // Chapter twenty five // Chapter twenty six // Chapter twenty seven // Chapter twenty eight // Chapter twenty nine //
Passing judgment
The iron bars slammed shut with a piercing screech and a massive key rattled in the lock. In the dim light from the small window, Marshal Botkin watched as the hunched figure of Black Riders´ leader slowly moved forward. Akanishi sat down on the narrow bunk, not paying his new ´accommodation´ more attention than he did to anything around him during their hasty trip to the so-called Magic City.
Seeing their captive properly locked up in one of the secured cells, Botkin finally allowed himself to feel something close to relief. The accumulated stress from thinking about things, which might have gone wrong during their journey, was already causing him a headache. Yet, he did not omit to remind his son to check all accesses to the spacious building and named his deputies for regular patrols, even though Sheriff Brady apparently had enough of his own men at hand.
“Rest assured, Marshal,” the recently elected sheriff whirled with the heavy bunch of keys around his sturdy fingers. “No villain ever escaped from this prison.”
Botkin eyed the conceited man sharply. “That is very reassuring. Therefore, I´m certain you´ll make sure nobody without authorization gets inside either.”
The sheriff scowled: “Should we expect troubles?”
“Not necessarily,” he assumed. “Nevertheless, we should focus on precautions.”
“All right, understood,” Brady nodded, apparently taking the situation more seriously. He handed the keys over to his deputy to hide them in the office, before turning to Botkin again. “I´ve got a message from you from Associate Justice Conger - he´s expecting your report. He requested you to come as soon as possible, preferably today.”
“Supreme Court will be surely at lunch at the moment, sir,” Botkin´s son assumed, leaning toward his father. “We´ve got some time to prepare.”
“It might happen that you´ll find them behind the desk even now,” Brady informed them meaningfully. “It seems they´re working overtime these days.”
“How comes?” Botkin asked. “Anything significant happened meanwhile?”
“Not really,” the sheriff shook his head. “I´ve just heard that a complaint arrived from Washington, regarding lynching in our territory. Conger´s on it like a hound dog.”
Botkin was not surprised. He himself wondered how much longer it would take before the situation with vigilantes in Montana would attract the attention of somebody from the capital.
“I understand. We´ll stop by there today,” he decided. “Keep a close eye on our prisoner, Sheriff.”
“You can count on me and my men,” Brady nodded, his eyes focusing on the motionless figure in the cell. “We won´t let this rare bird fly away, Marshal.”
***
The movements of the black stallion were fast, yet smooth and unusually soft. It was as if Kuro was aware of his rider´s health condition and tried to avoid any difficulties on the road to make the ride as comfortable as possible for him. It also meant proceeding forward in a significantly slower pace, which was getting on Kame´s nerves. Nevertheless, travelling in saddle hurt more than he had been expecting.
Ignoring the sharp bursts of pain in his right leg stole a great portion of his energy. Yet, he just could not bring himself to ask others to stop and have some break more often. His heart kept urging him to rush and it prevailed over the reason and consideration of own physical condition.
They crossed the Yellowstone River near Livingstone, keeping to its right bank from that moment on. The landscape in front of them was endless. Montana had never seemed bigger to him. It felt like it would take ages for them to get to Billings.
Kame stopped Kuro at the top of a low slope, to drink some water and take a breath. Both Koki and Jane on their horses had already overcome it, their figures visible down on the road, as they continued further east. He knew they would stop soon and wait for them somewhere nearby - they never got more than a mile apart from them, as if they were afraid to let him out of their sight. Yet, they gave him some space at least, which he could not say about the over-concerned Indian shaman.
As confirmation of Kame´s thoughts, his blood brother´s stallion snorted on his left side.
“My brother should rest,” Liwan spoke in a worried tone, his dark gaze focused on Kame, who made sure his expression did not reveal what he actually felt.
He took one more gulp of cold water and shook his head determined: “No. We´ll keep going till dark.”
No matter how hard or painful it would be, they had to get to Jin in time. He was not going to consider any other option. One could easily tell that his Indian friend disagreed with his stubborn attitude, yet kept silent this time.
Kuro stomped on the spot impatiently and Kame leant over to pat his neck gratefully: “You´re awesome, just keep going like this, okay?”
The black horse snorted almost haughtily, letting him know that he was planning nothing else.
“All right,” Kame focused on the long road in front of them again. “Let´s move on.”
***
Apart from many other attractions, Denver was quite famous for its lavish gambling houses. As the great city grew in the heart of Colorado, gambling opportunities arose along with it, from cheating three-card frauds to high-stakes poker and Faro games. Successful gamblers were widely well-known personalities, usually dressed smartly and wore expensive jewelry, each of them gaining their moment of glory before the fortune inevitably turned its back on them.
With his candidacy for Senator, Horace Tabor could not afford to be known for gambles, no matter how much he enjoyed playing for high stakes. That was why he never visited any of the city casinos and built up his own gambling room instead.
It was hidden in the underground of Opera House. Therefore, while noble ladies attended some boring theatric performances, their husbands spent their time there with a different kind of amusement. Naturally, Tabor invited only the closest of his acquaintances and business partners to join him, so it was never as crowded as the usual gambling houses in the city and it limited the danger of anyone slandering him as well.
That afternoon, luck was with him. He had already won two poker rounds, and it was his turn to shuffle the pack for the next one. He was just about to call Bernard to light another cigar for him, when his black manservant approached him inconspicuously from behind all by himself.
“The messenger is here, sir,” he whispered right in his ear.
Horace stopped shuffling the cards and gave the man a sideway look. “They finally got the telegraph network working again?”
Bernard nodded: “It seems so, sir.”
“My apologies, gentlemen,” he looked around the disinterested faces of his opponents. “You´ll have to do without me for this round,” then he passed the pack over to the mayor and got up from the brightly lit table.
The mentioned errand boy was waiting in the small cloakroom. Among many of his servants and employees, Horace quite liked working with this one - the slender young man was fast and reliable.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Tabor,” the fair-haired messenger bowed a little, swiftly pulling out a few small envelopes from the apparently new leather bag hanging from his shoulder. “The postmaster collected your mail first.”
“Good, it was about damn time,” Horace commented as he took the paper pile over. “You´re… Jack, is that right?”
“Yes, I am, sir.”
“Go grab something at the refreshment bar on my account.”
The young messenger smiled: “Thank you, sir. I´ll stay there as long as you need.”
Horace waved him off, telling himself that it paid off to raise his salary. The boy even understood very quickly, it would be a shame if he left to work for someone else for a higher reward.
The first short message was from Augusta. It seemed she concluded her foolish trip safely, informing him that his grandson was born healthy and vital. And of course, she dared to remind him that he should congratulate his son at least. As if he would not able to think of it by himself.
Horace pushed the crumpled paper into the patiently waiting Bernard´s hands. He genuinely wondered why everybody complained about dangerous travels through the former Indian territories all the time. His dear wife had apparently no issue at all to get wherever the hell she wanted.
Then he stared at the second, significantly shorter telegram in quite a surprise:
To: Horace Tabor, Denver, Colorado
From: Cameron Henderson, Bozeman, Montana Territory
MARSHALS ARRESTED AKANISHI STOP OTHER RIDERS IN HIDING STOP HEADING TO BILLINGS FOR TRIAL STOP WILL LET YOU KNOW ABOUT VERDICT END
Horace could not help but start grinning like a weasel in a hen house.
That was some news indeed! There was no message from that calculative man for weeks and now this? Just how did he accomplish it? No matter the rest of that annoying gang was still on escape, if they arrested their leader, it was a much bigger success than he was even hoping for after all those previous failures.
“Bernard!” Horace looked up from the telegram feeling quite enthusiastic. “Get the best whiskey in this building for me, I´ve got something to celebrate!”
The manservant nodded and left to arrange the order right away.
Still in surprised disbelief, Horace started to open the third envelope: “Holy crap, really,” he murmured while pulling another paper to the light of kerosene lamps. It seemed that Henderson was not just talking into the wind. He was thinking about sending a letter to the judge in Billings to find our more details.
Horace began to read a short letter still humming satisfied, before he fell silent at the second sentence.
Dear Lieutenant Governor,
please, note that our branch office in Montana Territory notified us about the arrest of the Black Riders´ leader - Jin Akanishi. There has been no sign of other gang members in more than six months.
In the light of these facts, take into account that a special military unit assigned to chase after the gang has been dissolved.
For more information, contact Sergeant Perry.
With kind regards
Dave Cook
The Denver City US Marshal
He gaped at the letter, and then he shifted it with the telegram from Henderson again.
What is this…? Jin Akanishi? Not Leo?
Bernard just appeared by his side, with the thick bottle and glass on a silver tray, when Horace Tabor snapped.
“What the hell! What is this stupid joke?” he waved with the paper in front of the surprised servant´s eyes.
“Sir?” already familiar with his employer´s outbursts, Bernard stepped back a little.
“Get me that boy! I need him to bring me someone from the Marshals´ office right now!”
***
“Hey! Akanishi!” the mocking voice echoed throughout the cold corridor with cells. “They say you turned yourself in, is it true?”
Their silent prisoner did not respond, and probably neither he moved from his sitting position with a hat covering his face, as Brady had seen him a while ago. However, the lack of reaction did not discourage the curious guard.
“I wonder why in the hell would you do it?” the tall man with overgrown, thin hair kept on inquiring. “Did you get bored playing the new Jesse James?”
Brady put down the newspaper and leaned back in a creaky chair, so that he had a direct view on his subordinate. “Hank, stop it. We´re supposed to watch over him, not mock him.”
The most irksome of his men grimaced: “You´re no fun, Sheriff.”
“And you should learn to take your job more seriously,” he countered coldly.
“If I offered to beat the names of others out of him, would that count?”
“It would not, forget it. Not to mention that Akanishi is the Marshals´ prisoner. It´s not our place to question him. Better get us something for dinner instead of fooling around.”
Annoyed Hank snorted, yet he moved away from one of the two currently occupied cells and left the office to do the sheriff´s bidding. Already alone, Brady shook his head with a sigh. If that ill-mannered man was not such a great shooter, he could do without him.
He reached out for the huge tin mug, but he barely managed to take one sip from his already cold coffee, where there came an energetic knock on the door and another of his men entered.
“Some military control arrived for a change, boss,” he announced with a significant grin and moved aside to make way for a tall man in US Army uniform.
Brady stiffened at first, but then he recognized the clean-shaved soldier with sharp blue eyes and stood up to welcome him.
“John! It´s good to see you again, man!” he crossed the room to shake the old friend´s hand whole-heartedly.
“Likewise, Philip,” Captain Walker smiled at him slightly. “And congratulations - I knew you´ll get your hands on that shining star one day.”
He grinned: “I was just lucky that all the people who know me came to vote.”
“True enough,” his deputy confirmed it cheekily and closed the door readily, before he could scold him.
For the moment, Brady let the man get away with it and focused on his visitor: “Do you want coffee? I´ve got some left, though it´s quite strong,” he pointed at the kettle on the small stove.
“I´d like that, thanks,” the captain accepted the offer. “Stronger the better.”
“A rough day?”
“Something like that,” John confirmed, taking the full mug with a steaming liquid from him gratefully.
“Well, I´d offer you something stronger, but I see you´re on duty, right?”
The captain nodded, already serious: “Exactly, so no thanks.”
“When did you return to Montana?”
“Two weeks ago, for a vacation actually. Nevertheless, my superiors decided I´ve already rested enough, so they happily tasked me with the current situation.”
“So, you´re in charge of the city security now, huh? That´s tough...”
“Job like any other,” the captain assumed, sipping the coffee carefully. “So? Any problems so far?”
“Not at all, our precious prisoner is rather boring,” Brady gestured toward the cells and lowered his voice. “I can imagine it must suck that Botkin outran you when you had been chasing after the Riders for so long…”
The captain´s expression stiffened a little: “…it doesn´t really matter who caught him.”
“Yeah, I guess you´re right about that,” Brady admitted.
“Hey… Hey! Let me out!” the hoarse voice suddenly yelled from the dark corridor. “Right the fuck now!”
“And here we go again,” he commented sighing. It seemed their other prisoner - a rather violent drunkard whose favorite activity was making a mess in the local saloons - had just woken up.
The sharp banging over the bars sounded through the whole building. “Does anyone hear me, damn it?!”
“Excuse me for a minute, John,” Brady apologized and headed to the cells hastily. “Shut it, Rogerson, or I´ll let you rot here for real,” he threatened while walking.
“You´ve got no right for that!” the unknown man continued complaining loudly.
“Do you wanna bet?” the sheriff reacted mockingly.
John put the coffee mug aside and followed his friend to the corridor with cells curiously. There was a part of him, which wanted to make sure. Leo Akanishi did not strike him as a careless man, so the news about his arrest surprised him a lot.
Brady was still persuading the drunkard to calm down, as John stopped by the other occupied cell. He did not know if it was a good idea to face that young man, but something indescribable poked him to it.
He eyed the slender figure sitting in the darkest corner of the cell. A somewhat familiar huge hat was covering his face, the dark hair escaping from under it and falling down to shoulders and he really looked like the young Black Riders´ leader. However, John knew both brothers now and his eyes widened in surprise right away.
He searched for Philip with his eyes. “Can you tell me what´s the meaning of this?”
“Shut it, Rogerson, or I´ll make you,” Brady snapped at the now quietly mumbling prisoner, before turning to him. “What do you mean, man?”
John pointed inside the cell: “This is Jin Akanishi.”
The sheriff approached slowly, eying John a bit confused. “Well, we know that. Didn´t you read the Marshals´ report?”
“I did, there was no first name,” he uttered. “But he is not the leader of Black Riders!”
“Hey, I know you´ve been after the younger brother the whole time, but what can I tell you?” Brady shrugged. “He confessed.”
John frowned, unwilling to accept such a false accusation: “That´s bullshit, I know this man. He is not…”
“Stay out of this, Captain.”
It was the first time the prisoner in the cell spoke. Both men looked through the bars surprised to hear his deep voice. Jin Akanishi raised his head and his dark eyes buried into John´s. The two men stared at each other without a move.
“Boss! Your dinner´s here!” one of the sheriff´s deputies´ voice called from the office.
Brady patted John´s shoulder. “There´s no point talking to him, believe me,” he said. “Come, we can share some roasted beef,” and with that he walked away.
John did not let his eyes of the hunched figure. He did not get it. He would be able to accept seeing Leo Akanishi here, since he really did some outrageous crimes while leading the gang. However, as far as he knew, his older brother did not do anything so serious to get a hasty trial, which was about to take place the day after with more than a clear outcome. Damn, he rather liked this young man, just as his friend Kamenashi.
He stepped closer, grasping the bars and trying to see the imprisoned man´s face more clearly.
“Why are you here, Akanishi?” he asked in a strained voice.
“…none of your business,” the younger man spoke with such disinterest it brought shivers all along John´s spine.
“Damn it, there´s not even a single lead on your foolish brother! You don´t have to cover up for him!” he whispered urgently.
“But I can, right?” there came a quiet reply.
John had a weird feeling suddenly: “What happened?” he asked tensely. “What made you do this?”
“Who cares?”
He gripped the bars tighter, forcing himself to keep his voice down. “I wonder at myself, but I do! Not to mention I bet that Kamenashi cares as well. Why at least he did not stop you?”
Only now, he received some real reaction from Akanishi. Suddenly, there was nothing but pure pain in his eyes. The gloomy prisoner closed them and leaned his head back over the wall.
“He could not stop me, Captain,” Akanishi whispered hoarsely.
John gulped down heavily: “Why?”
“Because he´s… gone.”
***
Coulson town was just one of many ugly places which popped out of nowhere during the frontier colonization. Yet, this one was somewhat different from others.
Located on the north bank of the mighty Yellowstone River, just a mile away from the quickly growing Billings, it was soon about to be forgotten. Since most of its residents already moved away, the number of graves on the local cemetery called Boothill outnumbered the remaining citizens. There was no church to keep at least believers on the place and a trolley running between the two centers a few months ago was already cancelled. Any, even the simplest disagreement usually ended up in bloody shootout. The latest sheriff - stubborn and brave man - fled from that hole with no regrets. Just walking on the streets of this rough-and-tumbled town without a gun at your belt, you were asking for trouble.
No one in right mind would want to spend more than five minutes at such a place. Ironically enough, all this made Coulson a perfect place for the Black Riders to hide and plan - at least according to their oldest member.
Therefore, they were now sitting in the small pub with tiny windows, full of awful stench and cigarettes smoke.
“And here I thought that I would never drink anything more disgusting than that dishwater they poured in Hell,” Ryo begun their meeting with a sour grimace, pushing away an empty shot.
Cullen finished the careful observation of all present rednecks and drunkards and looked at him wordlessly, yet with apparent annoyance.
“It would benefit you to let your picky tongue rest and drink something non-alcoholic from time to time,” Leo noted mockingly.
“Boring, chief,” his companion clicked his tongue discontentedly.
“Better than blind,” he assumed calmly, cautiously sniffing the content of his beer tankard, before taking a small sip. “So? What did you find out?”
Cullen leant over the table and started talking in a low voice: “They locked him up in the local jail of Sheriff´s Office; the whole building is guarded heavily. Doesn´t look accessible.”
Leo frowned: “I can imagine. Nobody ever managed to escape from there. Anyone who tried ended up sniffing the daises from below.”
“How do you know?” Ryo eyed him surprised.
“Chatted with the locals, some were surprisingly talkative,” he explained.
His companion snorted half-amused, half-terrified: “I´m surprised you survived that.”
Leo shrugged: “What about you?”
“They say the trial´s gonna take place the day after tomorrow or maybe even later. Court building is big and impressive, but not as heavily secured as that jail, I would say.”
“That could be our chance then,” Cullen reacted.
“I agree,” Leo nodded. “We should strike as they will move him between the buildings.”
“If we attack in the right moment, we will create perfect confusion,” the older man added his idea. “There will be many people, a few shots in the air should be enough to make them panic.”
Ryo cleared his throat: “Isn´t it too… bold?”
“You´ve got any better idea?” Leo asked plainly.
“Well, we can always try to blow that prison up.”
He shook his head right away: “Too risky, we´d have to find out Jin´s exact location. Not to mention there would be many casualties. I´m not willing to sacrifice anyone innocent, if we can avoid it. Not anymore.”
“All right… It´s the trial day then,” Cullen summarized. “We need some proper artillery for that and a horse for your brother.”
“Yeah, we´ve got many things to arrange… But we can do it, guys.”
***
Justice Everton Conger had encountered many various types of criminals during his practice. He arrived for the newest trial convinced that some naive gunslinger would not be able to surprise him no matter how famous he was. Yet, this Jin Akanishi seemed to be a little special case.
The courtroom was huge, but unusually half-empty. The trial was open to public, but they intentionally did not announce the date officially, so hardly anyone knew about it happening. Conger considered it exaggerated, but Marshal Botkin insisted on keeping the whole matter quiet, justifying it with safety precautions. Therefore, there were a few people in the public benches, both locals and strangers, but most of the present were employees of the Supreme Court, Sheriff Brady´s men, a few military officers and some US Marshals.
Hardly ever any criminal walked out of his trials without a death sentence on his or her head. As came for this Black Riders´ leader, there was quite a list of various crimes, of which the US Marshals´ representative accused him - from a mere bank robbery, through dynamite blasts with civil casualties, to the cheeky attack on Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. It took a while to read them all and considering the seriousness of those allegations, Conger could come up with only one verdict. Even though there were things, he had heard about this gang, which could have softened his harsh decision…
They were quite popular among common folks, who apparently saw them as some kind of Robin Hood´s band. No wonder, most of the time they robbed only very rich people and not counting those dynamite incidents, they could have been considered as quite a peaceful gang in comparison with bastards he usually had to deal with. Yet, for him to even take those facts into consideration, Akanishi would have to truthfully testify regarding all the accusations. Instead, he reacted in a way, which actually surprised Conger a lot.
After naming all the charges, the experienced judge expected curses, excuses, apologies or pleads for mercy. However, from the young man came nothing of that sort. Conger´s hand with an expensive pencil for notes stiffened, as he heard Akanishi actually speak up.
He raised his head from the counter and looked at the accused bandit standing in front of him through his glasses. “You confess?” Conger repeated slowly.
“Yes,” Akanishi confirmed, once again in that deep, disinterested tone.
He blinked and eyed the seemingly endless list on his counter again. “To all points of charges?”
“That´s right. Except that mine.”
The judge stared at him: “The mine?”
“The golden mine in Bozeman, sir,” the Marshals´ representative hurried to explain. “There has been an accusation by its owner that Black Riders blew it up out of revenge.”
“I see,” Conger flipped through the pages, finding the related part, and then looked at Akanishi again. “Why not to this one?”
Surprisingly enough, the accused suddenly seemed somewhat annoyed. “I already said at least ten times that the Riders had nothing to do with that fucking mine,” he growled.
That was curious. It would not help him even a bit as came to the final sentence, yet Akanishi insisted to be innocent in particularly this accusation? He was telling the truth in that moment, Conger could tell. However, what it would say about the rest of his statements?
Their audience seemed to get restless, when the judge did not speak for a while. He altered his glasses and looked into papers again. He had no time to ponder this man´s motives, there were other important matters to deal with.
“All right then… As for the rest of charges - do you feel guilty?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have anything to say for your defense?”
“No.”
Akanishi could not have made it any easier for him. Yet, from some reason, Conger was not very thrilled about it. Even though he was busy and had no time to waste for someone who apparently already gave up, it did not seem right.
Conger had seen many villains on that bench, but hardly ever anyone so surrendered to their destiny. Jin Akanishi seemed like someone who could not wait his life to be over. Then the least he could do was to make it quick for him.
*
They arrived to Billings just in time to verify the situation and act accordingly. Cameron had his resources in the city and it was not hard to find out the local authorities´ plans with the alleged Black Riders´ leader.
Now, as he watched the Sheriff´s men leading the oblivious convict away, he thought he would feel satisfaction, joy or peace. But he could not find any of these emotions in himself; it just felt weird. This was not how he wanted the things to turn out.
Akanishi did not resist at all, he actually seemed too broken to care about anything. There was nothing in front of that cheeky brat who dared to raise his hand against Cameron´s mentor, only the short walk to the gallows. However, was it even enough?
“Mr. Cameron? We should go…”
He did not turn to anxious Danny until Akanishi´s figure disappeared from his sight.
“Yes… Let´s go,” he slowly stood up from the bench. “Find us some accommodation for two nights,” he ordered Danny flatly, before heading outside the court room first.
***
“There´s a letter for you, Mother,” Nathaniel Tabor announced as he entered the warmed up salon of his house.
Augusta looked up from a thick book surprised.
“For me?” she asked doubtfully. For Horace to reply it was a way too soon. “Thank you,” she took the small envelope over. “Would you like some tea?” she offered her son.
“No, thanks, I´ll check on the little one first,” Nathaniel shook his head and left her alone.
She put her evening reading aside on the small table, which already served as space for the kettle with the mentioned hot liquid inside. Then she tore the envelope open, pulled out a small piece of paper and eyed those few sentences apparently written in a hurry.
Augusta´s eyes widened and then she frowned displeased. She tapped over the letter for a while, pondering its content, before she swiftly stood up and left to the main hall.
“Grace!” she called as she was already heading up the stairs. “My dear, I need a favor!”
Her daughter-in-law appeared at the simple railing apparently surprised by her urgent tone. “Yes, Mother?”
“Would you please borrow me the most impressive dress from your wardrobe?”
***
The hammer strikes resonated through the dark streets of Billings. Most citizens were already asleep, or at least they pretended not to hear the tireless works on the square. On the other hand, there were also those who were excited about the upcoming gloomy spectacle. No matter the late hour, they were eager to express their opinions over drinks and cards.
A sudden gust of wind from the Rocky Mountains ruffled the dust on the main road, made the hangman cough and halt his thorough hammering. Yet soon, the tall sinewy man resumed his work and other heavy hits disrupted the peace of night, as well as a nap of some small child, whose crying could be heard from one of the houses nearby the Sheriff´s Office.
All those noises also reached the prison cell in the back part of the building. Nevertheless, Jin sitting on the bunk and leaning against a wall did not hear them. He could not make himself care about the ominous sounds, even though each hit meant one step closer to his own death. Instead, he rather let his mind sink in memories. Some of them were painful, but he clung to them anyway. The images of his Kazuya were hidden deep inside of him, and he was sure they would never fade. However, it was quite certain he would not have a chance to verify it, since the day after this night there was no future for him at all…
Some wandering dog started barking furiously somewhere on the square, but he was silenced soon enough by a rough voice and a hard boot. Once again, only the noises indicating the construction of the portable gallows ruled over the cool streets. Jin frowned nevertheless, disrupted by the barking from his dreaming awake.
A chair in the office on the other side of the short corridor creaked as Sheriff Brady tried to settle himself into more comfortable position. Harsh voices of his men and Marshals pacing around the whole building were heard under the tiny barred window, before they turned around the corner again.
Jin did not want to listen to any of it. He just wanted to go back to his safe castle of memories. He searched for something he could catch on, until his eyes found three rectangles of bluish light on the dirty floor. It was the moon stretching its invisible fingers inside his jail through the window. It was not so long since the warm evening when he and Kazuya had watched the full moon together, before they got distracted by each other´s lips…
*
Something woke Jin up from his short slumber full of weird dreams. In the pitch black of the wigwam, it took him a while to remember the recent hot session and then he realized that he was alone.
On all his four, he scrambled toward the exit and pushed the animal skin aside. The village flooded by the eerie bluish light surprised him. Wasn´t there completely dark when they left the Sun Dance ceremony?
Jin looked up the find out that the dark clouds tore up in the past hour or so and let the full moon shine fully. The ceremonial drumming was still going on, echoing from the edge of the Indian village faintly. And then his eyes caught an outline of familiar figure standing in the shallow water near the shore of the lake.
He wondered what might have made Kame leave their sleeping sanctuary. He reached into the dark for his pants and slowly headed to the lake as well. As he approached, his lover turned to him and invited Jin with a short gesture to join him. He stepped into the water a bit hesitantly, but it was surprisingly pleasant, despite that it was colder than he had expected. He could see a soft smile on Kame´s face, as he grasped his hand firmly and led him even further, to deeper waters…
Their night bath in the lake was cool, but it washed away their sweat and also tiredness. Then they sat side by side on the shore, listening to the sounds from the continuous ceremony.
Jin pulled Kazuya closer, hugging him tight. The moonshine was dancing on the lake´s surface, glittering in tiny sparkles and making the view one of the most impressive things he ever saw. Especially with the young man on his side, whose heartbeat he could feel under his fingers. It was damn unfair that moments like these were so short.
Kame suddenly sighed: “It´s beautiful, isn´t it?”
Jin eyed the view with the huge moon reflecting its cold fingers in the calm water again.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “But only thanks to the fact that you´re sitting here with me.”
Kame gave him a sideway look: “Somewhat tender, aren´t we?” he noted amused.
“Are you surprised?”
“Not really,” he admitted, snuggling even closer. “Jin?”
The sad voice made him tear his eyes off the bright moon, while Kame´s were still focused on it, he could see the moon shape in them.
“Do you think we deserve this?”
Jin frowned a little: “What do you mean?”
“To be together. Happy, like this.”
He did not like how that question sounded at all.
“You´re not the person, who should ask himself such questions,” he scolded him. “Why do you even doubt it?”
“I don´t know… I… We did things, which are not exactly praiseworthy.”
“I believe we do the best we can every damn day.”
His lover looked at him, surprised by his slightly upset tone.
“Jin…”
He reached out and grabbed Kame´s chin.
“I´ve already told you to stop belittling yourself, Kazuya,” he emphasized and seized his lips lovingly.
Kame sighed and returned the kiss, circling his arms around Jin. Then he suddenly chuckled.
“Hey, what is it?” Jin complained, when he pulled away.
“Before you were all sticky, but now you are wet… And still hard,” he added cheekily.
Jin smiled at him meaningfully. “That´s hardly a problem, is it?”
“Yes… Hardly…”
And then they happily lost themselves in each other´s embrace…
*
Jin let go of a shaky sigh and closed his eyes. He couldn´t push that cruel realization back any longer. All those pictures in his mind were only his memories now; Kame was not around anymore… And it still hurt like hell.
That was why he was not scared of tomorrow, even though it was terrifying to know that soon, very soon, the firm snooze would steal his breath forever. There was also a good side to it. Not only that he could save his brother Leo from any more pursuing like that, the most important was that his miserable half-existence would be over as well. And maybe, if there was afterlife as some believed, or even the Eternal Hunting Grounds, maybe he would meet with his Kazuya again…
- To be continued -