Read The Shoes Come First: A Jennifer Cloud Novel Page 27

Chapter 10

  Caiyan strolled back into camp. So much for the deep breathing—my blood pressure shot back up the minute I saw him. I tried to look away, but I still caught the questioning look in his eyes. Caiyan and Brodie went down to tend the horses, and I could see they were having another intense conversation that apparently didn’t include us. Gertie and I cleaned up the dishes by washing them in the stream. I wondered how we were going to find the so-called bad guys. I also wanted to try to get Brodie alone so I could get the scoop on Satan’s bitch.

  “Tonight we need to go into town and get friendly with the locals,” Caiyan said to me as they returned from the horses.

  “Good,” I said. I really could use something strong to drink. It didn’t take us long to polish off the bottle of wine Caiyan had in his backpack.

  “Not you, mate,” Brodie replied. “We have to go scrounge up some coin.”

  “Brodie and I need to get into a card game so we can win some money,” Caiyan said. “We also need more supplies.”

  “What if you don’t win?” I asked.

  “We always win,” Brodie said matter-of-factly.

  “Do you know how to use this?” Caiyan asked Gertie as he pulled a gun from the holster on his belt. It looked like the kind they used in the movies when the actors played Russian roulette.

  “Yep, sure thing,” Gertie said. I hoped she knew how to use it, because I knew guns the same way I knew how to ride a horse.

  “My grandpappy showed me how to use a six-shooter when I was young. But the real training came when my number-two stepdad taught me how to use the semiautomatics. He was into stealing things, and you never know when the owner might want a return, so he taught all us kids how to shoot in case we needed to cover him while he made a getaway.”

  The image of Gertie and her brothers covering her criminal stepdad while he ran for the getaway car was a little unsettling. Oh man, what have I gotten myself into?

  All that self-righteous bullshit I’d conjured up earlier just left like the morning train. Maybe I didn’t want to fight the bad guys. Maybe I wanted to go home and put on my comfy pj’s.

  “Earth to Jen,” said Gertie, waving a hand in front of my face.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I don’t want to be left out here in BFE while y’all go into town and have fun.”

  “We are in Beefy?” asked Brodie. “I thought this was Texas.”

  “No, she said BFE, which is the acronym for Bum-Fuck Egypt,” Gertie answered.

  Apparently this was not a common term in Australia, because it sent Brodie into a fit of laughter. “She’s a real beaut, Caiyan, and you’re giving her a piece. Mate, you’ve got your hands full with this one. Let’s go hit the piss.”

  “Oh, that’s so disgusting,” I said, still upset about being left behind.

  “It means ‘let’s get some ale’—you know, beer,” Caiyan said. “I need the two of you to stay here. Stay in the campsite and keep the fire going, but keep it low. If you hear anything, make sure you have the gun close. I am not expecting any trouble. I have not seen the Mafusos, and this is a very docile town. Mostly farmers and cattle ranchers. There should not be any trouble. We will only be gone a short time.”

  Caiyan untied Dan from the tree, and Brodie attempted to mount Gypsy. He was almost ready to throw the other leg over when Gypsy did her little sidestep and bit Brodie from Australia right on the behind.

  “Damn brumby bit me arse,” he hollered.

  Gertie and I couldn’t help but laugh. Caiyan just shook his head. Brodie finally got hold of Gypsy. Caiyan gave me a warning “stay put” glare, and both men rode off into the night.

  I turned to look at Gertie. She was staring at the gun lying next to her on the bedroll.

  “Do you really know how to use it?” I asked.

  “Well,” she stammered, “I haven’t ever shot a real gun at anybody, but I did shoot a BB gun at my cousin once.”

  “A BB gun!” I exclaimed. “What happened to the semiautomatics… the number-two stepdad?”

  “I really do know how to hold one.” She picked up the gun and pointed it as if she were one of Charlie’s Angels.

  Great, we are so dead. Maybe Caiyan was right and we would be just fine out here in nowheresville, but my sixth sense was telling me different. I am just going to lie down and go to sleep, then when I wake up, it will be morning and maybe Caiyan and Brodie will have caught the bad guy, and they will put him in my outhouse, and I can go home. Kudos for positive thinking. I suddenly felt a little safer.

  “I’m going to sleep.”

  “OK, me too,” Gertie replied. She stoked the fire so it would last for a while, and we slipped into our bedrolls.

  “Do you think Caiyan is in love with Satan’s bitch?” I asked Gertie.

  “Naw,” she said. “You should see the way he looks at you. Like he wants to do more but can’t seem to find his nerve.”

  “I think he’s got plenty of nerve. What if she is the reason he can’t?”

  “Well then, he will be the one missin’ out.” Gertie turned over and began to snore softly.

  I would be the one missing out, I thought. Then the fresh air took over, and I fell asleep.