Devils Unto Dust(18)

I stir the beans, making sure they don’t stick to the bottom.

“Will? What are we gonna do about the money?”

I fish a bean out of the pot with my spoon and blow on it. “I took care of it,” I say, half under my breath.

“What? What does that mean?”

The bean is hot and doesn’t put up any resistance as I chew. I take longer than I need to swallow, delaying my answer.

“Willie, what did you do?” Micah’s voice is thick with distrust.

I steel myself and turn to face him. “I hired a hunter. I’m going after Pa.”

“You hired a hunter.” Micah stares at me dumbly. I take advantage of his momentary silence and shout for the twins.

“Catherine, Calvin, come sit down. Dinner’s almost ready.” Micah’s still staring at me, so I keep going. “I’m leaving for Best first thing tomorrow.”

“You’re leaving for Best.”

“Please stop repeating everything I say,” I tell him crossly.

“A hunter? Will, he’s likely to take you halfway and leave you for dead.”

“What other choice do we got? We need four hundred dollars, and I don’t know how else to get it.”

“You really think you can find him?”

“He’s only a day ahead—if I catch up, maybe I can get to him before he loses all of it.”

“He could’ve spent it already, Will, you know how Pa is with money.”

“I know. And if I have to, I’ll drag him back to Glory. We’re not taking the blame, not this time.” My voice is steady, but inside I’m shrinking; I hope it doesn’t come to that. I can feel Micah’s eyes on me, feel the judgment coming off him. “I know he’s our pa, but if it will keep us safe—”

“To hell with Pa,” Micah interrupts. “He don’t deserve any kindness from us. What about you? Do you know how many people die on the road? How many just disappear?”

“You got a better plan, I’m all ears.” Micah looks down. “That’s what I thought. Look, I’ll have two hunters with me. That’s as safe as I can make it.”

“Two? How’d you wrangle that?”

“They’re brothers, they work together.”

“Willie,” Micah says slowly, “how can we afford two hunters?”

Damn. I was hoping he wouldn’t catch on. “We can’t,” I say, shrugging. “But they don’t know that.”

Micah makes a strangled sound in his throat. “They’ll kill you when they find out.”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. And I ain’t so easy to kill, you know.” I smile, but Micah won’t budge.

“I’m going with you,” he says.

“Like hell you are.”

“I’m serious, Willie. You want to go on the road with two hunters who have reason to kill you? If something happens, what are the twins and me gonna do? Did you even think about that?”

I sigh. “Micah, please. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“Don’t do that,” Micah says, his face screwed up in frustration. “Don’t act like this is only up to you.”

“It is,” I snap at him. “I’m the one responsible for everyone. You don’t have to point out how risky this is, Micah, believe me, I know. But until something happens to me, I am in charge of this family, and I will decide how to take care of it. So you are staying here and watching the twins and that’s final.”

Micah glares at me and I glare back.

“Now sit down and eat your damn beans. Cath, Calvin!”

“We’re right here,” Cath says, skidding into me.

“Hands,” I order, and it comes out harsher than I mean it. I take a deep breath and swallow my anger as the twins hold up their hands. Filthy; I doubt they used any soap at all.

“Those are the opposite of clean,” I tell them. “Just sit down.”

It’s not a pleasant meal; Micah shoots daggers at me, but when I look up he refuses to meet my eyes. I don’t have much appetite, so I push my beans around in my bowl until the twins are almost finished.

“I gotta talk to you about something important,” I tell them, setting down my spoon. “You remember what happened this morning.”

“Of course we do,” Cath says.

“It was only this morning,” Calvin adds.

“Hush,” I tell them, “and let me finish. You heard what that man said; we’re in trouble unless we do what he wants. So I went to the Homestead today and I hired a hunter. I’m going to be leaving for a few days, but I’ll be back soon.”

I’m greeted with silence as the twins stare at me, stunned. Micah just looks bored, examining his beans closely.

“Micah will take care of everything while I’m gone. Make sure you mind him, now.”

“Is this because we broke the plate?” Catherine looks like she’s fighting back tears, and something inside me twists.

“No, Cath, it ain’t about the plate,” I say gently.

“We’re sorry. We won’t break things no more. Please don’t leave.”

“It was Micah’s fault!” Calvin says, glaring at Micah accusingly.