Alone in the Wild (Rockton #5)(85)

“That is why I’m here. To trade. It is also why you should have told me about the baby. I know who it belongs to.”

“Do you?” I say, keeping my voice calm. “Oddly, your grandfather said the same thing. Those traders also tried to claim her.”

“Is it a her?” Something flickers in her eyes, gone before I can chase it. She nods. “You have been fed many lies, but I tell the truth.”

“In return for a gun?”

“Yes.”

I face her. “Yeah, here’s the problem with that. Edwin told us the baby was from these traders, in hopes we’d keep her and avoid contact with the Second Settlement. The traders told us she was theirs, in hopes we’d pay them for her. Now you’re telling us you know where she belongs, in hopes of getting a gun. See the pattern? We’ve spent a damned week tramping through the forest, trying to give a family back their lost baby. This doesn’t benefit us at all, and everyone else is trying to benefit from our good deed, and I’m getting really pissed off. If you don’t actually know who this baby’s parents are, then I’d suggest you turn around right now and go back to the First Settlement or you are never going to see a gun from me.”

She eyes me, much the way she might eye a wolf in the forest, trying to decide exactly how dangerous it is. “You’re frustrated.”

“How very astute of you.”

Her lips quirk. I won’t call it a smile, but it’s something. She might be appreciating my directness. Or she might be amused at my show of weakness, allowing my temper to get the better of me.

“No one out here will reward you for your good deeds,” she says.

“I’m not looking for—”

“A reward, I know. You want us to help or stay out of your way. Instead, we’re making your task unnecessarily difficult.”

“Yes.”

She eyes me again, head tilting as if considering. Then she says, “It is a test. Not intentionally or overtly, but in the end, you are being tested. Do you see through the lies? How easily are you manipulated? How much can you be used? That’s what everyone out here is thinking. How useful can you be to them? And you are thinking the same thing. Can the First Settlement be useful? The Second? The traders? Tyrone? Jacob?”

She lifts a hand against my protest. “Yes, Jacob is Eric’s brother, and you are not trying to use him, but it is still a reciprocal relationship. Your goal is not to take advantage but to establish mutually beneficial relationships. Everyone else is doing the same. They’re just less concerned about making those relationships fair. Everyone wants the best deal. You would not take advantage of Jacob. You might not even take advantage of me, because I am young. But if you could take advantage of those traders? Of course you would. Everyone wants something. No one wants to be cheated.”

She’s right, of course. That isn’t only life up here; it’s life in general. It’s just more obvious here, everyone angling for an advantage over the limited resources we share.

“They are testing you,” she says. “You’re a good person. The question is how good, and can it be used against you? You ask whether I’m lying. I’d be a fool to do that, wouldn’t I? It would be cheating you on our first trade. Foolish and shortsighted, like a bear trampling an entire berry patch for one meal. Better to cultivate the patch.”

“And you’re cultivating me.”

“You know I am. There’s no point in lying. Also, I don’t do it. That’s my grandfather’s way, and it works for him. It does not work for me. If I don’t want to tell you the truth, I won’t answer. When I say I know where to find this baby’s parents, I’m negotiating in good faith. I’ll take you to them, and then you owe me a gun.”

“You’ll hold this child hostage for a gun.”

Something flashes behind her eyes. Then her jaw sets, and she says simply, “I would like a gun. I believe finding this baby’s parents is important to you, and therefore worth the price I’m asking.”

If I don’t want to tell you the truth, I won’t answer.

I remember her expression when I said the baby was a girl. That flicker of emotion.

“You know her parents,” I say.

“Did I not say that?” she snaps, annoyed at being more transparent than she intended.

“I will pay you for this information.” I say. “Five hundred dollars’ worth of our goods or two hundred and fifty of your choice, to be purchased in Dawson.”

Her eyes harden. “That means nothing to me.”

I wince. Of course. Unlike Cherise, who travels to Dawson, Felicity has never used money. “Right, sorry. Five hundred dollars would buy you five good pairs of boots or five decent parkas or five hundred cans of soup.”

She tries to cover her shock, and says nonchalantly, “How many guns?”

I smile. “Nice try, but if the council caught us buying guns for you, they’d kick us out. Later, I can try to negotiate to get you one, but I can’t promise that now. It’s the five hundred in random goods or two-fifty in goods of your choice, same as I offered Cherise.”

She blinks. “You offered Cherise so much for finding this baby’s parents? That was … unwise.” She says it carefully, an adult gently admonishing a child too young to know better.