Devils Unto Dust(28)

The blisters on my right heel have broken, and now the skin is being rubbed raw inside my boot. I try not to wince as I walk, but it slows me down some. I fall farther behind the others, coming level to Benjamin and Nana. He looks my way but doesn’t say anything, not that I expect him to. I watch the others up ahead, my brother easy to spot. He’s almost as tall as Curtis, but so much thinner, like someone took a small child and stretched him.

“I woulda thought I could count on you to send them packing,” I say to Benjamin.

“Maybe you can afford to turn money down,” he answers.

“Not me.” I shake my head and sigh. This is not how I wanted this day to go.

I keep my thoughts to myself after that, and by the time Ben and I catch up to the rest, my anger has cooled some. It’s too hot and bright out here for me to be burning inside as well. The best I can manage is a tired scowl when Micah comes alongside me. He takes a breath like he’s about to launch into a speech, so I lengthen my stride until I pass him. If he has something to say, he can talk to my back.

I haven’t gone more than a few steps when something small strikes my leg. It’s a cheap trick, throwing rocks; I thought we’d grown out of it. Another pebble glances off my back and I twitch. It’s not that it hurts, but Micah knows how much it annoys me.

“Stop it,” I tell him, breaking my vow of silence. It doesn’t help that his aim has improved. Another rock hits my shoulder and falls to the ground with a ding.

“Cut it out, Micah.”

The last one hits me right in the rear, and I round on him, hands on hips. “I said cut it out!”

Micah grins at me and drops a handful of rocks back onto the ground.

“Come on, Sis,” he says, dusting off his hands. “Ain’t you just the littlest bit happy to see me?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

That does it; I take a wild swat at his face, but Micah knows my temper too well and he’s tall enough now that he can hold me off. We wrestle for a moment, and then he has an arm locked around my head and I have my shoulder shoved against his stomach.

“What. Is. Wrong. With. You?” I punctuate each word with my fist, hitting Micah wherever I can reach.

“You! You never listen to me,” Micah says, and he pokes me in the side with his bony elbow.

“Ow, stop it.”

“You stop it.”

We struggle against one another until it’s clear neither of us has the upper hand.

“Truce?” I ask, breathing hard. Our fights always end the same way; since Micah started getting taller, we’re too evenly matched.

“Truce,” Micah agrees, and we both let go.

I straighten up and find Curtis and Sam watching us with matching expressions of amusement. Ben, of course, looks just the same, maybe only slightly more disgusted.

“What?” I ask defiantly, trying to cover my embarrassment. My cheeks get hot; I’m too old to be scrapping in the dirt.

“Nothing,” Sam says, but I can tell he’s trying not to laugh.

“Then keep walking,” I tell him.

I glance at Micah; his face is bright red and he looks like he wants to stick his head in the sand. I sigh, and the fight goes out of me.

“Why couldn’t you just do like I asked, Micah?” I say quietly, not wanting the others to overhear us quarrel again. “I got enough to worry about without you here.”

“You’re not the only one who worries, Will. I got just as much at stake here. This is my family, too.”

“I know that, Micah. But what happens to the twins if we both get hurt?”

“Fine, then you go back,” Micah says, not bothering to keep his voice down. “You go home and babysit the twins and wait by the door, hoping I come back alive.”

I open my mouth to protest, but I have nothing to say. I couldn’t, of course. I couldn’t stand not knowing what was happening to my brother. I couldn’t stand any of my family getting hurt; it’s why I’m out here to begin with.

Micah smiles. “That’s what I thought.”

“I woulda come back, Micah,” I tell him quietly. “I would.”

“Maybe,” he says. “But how long you think it’ll take McAllister to put a bounty on Pa? It’s only a matter of time, and then there’s nothing to stop these boys from killing you and Pa and taking the money for themselves. I won’t leave, Will, so don’t ask me again. We’re in this mess together, like it or not.”

I shake my head, beaten. “Fine,” I say. “Suit yourself. But you took the twins to Old Bess, and you’re the one who has to go get ’em back.”

From the look on Micah’s face, he didn’t think that far ahead. I smile to myself, pleased with the punishment; Bess doesn’t get much company, and if the last time I visited is any indication, getting the twins to leave her house will be just as hard as getting her to let Micah go.

“That’s low, Will,” Sam says, eavesdropping on our conversation. He laughs and I narrow my eyes at him.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing, Kincaid. I’m sure the boys at the station will be happy to hear we brought a doctor with us. How many coughs can you listen to? How many blisters you think need tending?”

That wipes the smile off his face. “You wouldn’t.”