Encounters

Simply put, Leadville could be described as one huge silver camp. But in that case, it was the craziest camp Jin had ever seen. The dirty pubs sharing space on the same street with the luxurious saloons and hotels; the rich houses standing in neighborhood of the poorest sheds of those, who searched for wealth unsuccessfully so far; the ladies anxious about not getting their dresses dirty, walking past the colorful frontage of whorehouses, which verandas were occupied by the harlots offering their services shamelessly; the streets overcrowded with carts and carriages, but also with horses´ shit and old newspapers.

The valuable mineral, which was the very reason of the current steady flow of immigrants to the city, was included in every business, in every conversation, in every robbery. Leadville was growing up and spreading too fast and too wildly to be controlled.

It took Jin hell a lot of time to find a building of Post Office in that morning chaos. He discovered it at the crossroads of two shady streets consisting of many small houses, which were built quite close to each other.

The young gunslinger was in a hurry, as he wanted to get back to the tavern before his small walk to get some fresh air would have been noticed as suspicious; so he entered the building quite relieved.

The Leadville´s telegrapher was kind of unusual as well. The man was sitting in the spacious office, which was brimming over with dozens of sealed packages and boxes. The man´s boots unmannerly rested on the table, which was supposed to be a place for letters and the telegraph machine only.

This post office employee was reading the latest newspaper, when Jin entered, and he turned his attention to the young stranger only lazily, eyeing him from head to toes.

"What do you want?" he asked annoyed.

Well, that is some attitude towards a customer, Jin thought.

"To send a telegram, please," he replied calmly.

"What?" the man snorted.

"This is a post office, right? That thing on your table works?" Jin asked, starting to be a little pissed off.

"Yeah, it does," the postman folded the newspaper down.

"Fine. I want to send a telegram then," Jin repeated his request frowning.

The man stood up from his chair, as if it was the most troublesome thing in the world, and took a paper with pen from the shelf above his head.

"So? Where to?" he asked rudely. "I don´t have a whole day for this, man."

"Denver, Blake Street Saloon," the upset gunslinger hissed, determined not to give to the ill-bred man even a cent above the necessary prize.

*

Jin was on his way back, walking through the middle of the street, smoking a cigarette, and not really aware of the happenings around him, as he was lost in his thoughts.

He pondered if Kame had already arrived to Denver or not, and if his telegram would even reach him, especially with that fucking lazy telegrapher. He had no idea what was happening with the younger one during those long winter months and the longer their separation was, the gloomier Jin turned. It would have been really great if Kame had managed to catch up with him sooner than he would be forced to move away from the place again.

"Ah! Here you are!"

Jin was almost at the tavern, when the cheerful voice reached to him. It was Ryo, who almost bumped into him, throwing his arm around Jin´s shoulders.

"Will you help me a little, Big Akanishi?" the black-haired one requested pleadingly.

"With what?" Jin mumbled, shaking the other´s hand off.

"I need to make some shopping before we leave and it´s annoying to do it alone. They always make me run all over the city as their servant," Ryo huffed annoyed. "I´ll show you around while we´re at it, will you come with me? Pretty please…"

"All right," Jin shrugged. "I don´t have anything better to do anyway… But what do you mean by leaving?"

"Leo has just decided; we leave the city tomorrow," the young Rider informed Jin. "I´m sure he will talk to you later. Come on, we have hell a lot of errands…"

Jin let Ryo drag him along; sinking in even more pessimistic mood thanks to the information he had just received. Everything was happening too quickly…

***

To his frustration, there was not much Kame could do.

He went through the newspapers, which Jin had left behind. The articles about the Black Riders were marked in all of them, but there was nothing more specific about their location. Among Jin´s scribbled notes he did not find anything what would provide him a clue in which direction the older one focused his search. He seriously doubted it would have made much sense to wander around the city aimlessly, hoping that he would come across something useful.

In that last message, which Kame had received in Cheyenne, Jin asked him to meet in the Blake Street Saloon, so once he was there, he decided to hope that Jin would come back soon and to wait for him. Though he was not sure for how long he would manage it…

The young traveler was almost out of cash now, after paying off the rental costs for the room. Not that his journey from the north would have been so expensive – most of the time he and Liwan managed to hunt or find something to eat – but Kame didn´t have much to begin with. Fortunately, at least he could allow himself to take a bath at the barber, whose business was located right opposite the saloon, as that was included in the price of accommodation.

After washing and changing into his spare clothes, Kame took Ukushi and with more caution, but not less amazed, he set off to the walk through the whole busy city, searching for any boards with the wanted posters and checking also the walls of the Marshals Office, thinking that there might be something new.

But it was not his most successful day… Kame met many interesting people, he saw awesome buildings and places, he even came across the street performers, who belonged to some famous circus, but he just couldn´t enjoy it while having no idea what was going on with his lover.

Kame knew that Jin was capable enough to take care of himself and there was no Karnaka with the legions of his gunmen around anymore, but still… Still…

***

It was almost impossible to stick at the gloomy mood while Ryo was your companion. The young Rider seemed to have an incredible ability to smile cheerfully during situations, in which Jin would have already taken his revolver out.

During shopping, they talked a lot and Jin had found out that a smiling member of the gang was just a few months younger than he was. Ryo was born in Sheridan, Wyoming, where he had also met the other Riders for the first time. Tired of no-benefit hard labor for a rich rancher, who was an employer of his whole family, he chose to join the group after some incident, which Ryo didn´t mention specifically.

He left behind his parents, two elder brothers and one sister. Ryo admitted missing them, but right after he joked that once he would come back with the bag so full of money, that he would be able to buy for all of them their own house, instead of that ruin they lived in. Jin was rather amazed with such a positive attitude…

They were heading to the tavern, laughing over just another remark Ryo had made about them looking like thieves with all those bags and sacks over their shoulders. Only that this time – to Jin´s relief – they really paid for everything.

The inside of Slabtown´s Tavern was a little cooler than the outside air, but that was not the reason, why Jin´s laughter died in his throat, once they went in. Instead, he felt chills on his back. A cause of it was the sight of all other Riders gathered around a table in the corner and their eyes focusing at him the second Jin stepped over the threshold.

Almost immediately, Jin knew something was wrong; his instinct could not be wrong in that. A heavy slam of the door closing behind them was a sufficient proof of that for him. The strong hands grabbing and yanking him roughly into the middle of the room were not necessary at all.

It was Cullen Esler, who took Jin´s revolver out of its holster and forced him to sit in a chair. Jin didn´t resist; he felt it would not be a good idea. Because Leo was there as well, sitting on the edge of the table, hands resting over his knees and his look at Jin was the total opposite of the one he was giving him in the morning.

Ryo remained standing right in front of the door honestly confused, the bags they brought gathered at his feet.

"What the hell is going on now?!" Jin asked, barely suppressing the urge to defend himself against the rough treatment.

"You´ll be the one doing the explanations, boy. So, watch your cocky mouth," Culled hissed at him and pushed some piece of paper so close to Jin´s face that the letters on it were just the blurry stains at first. But when he focused his eyes, he was able to read it…

To: Kazuya Kamenashi, Denver, Blake Street Saloon

I FOUND BROTHER IN LEADVILLE STOP COME IF YOU CAN STOP JIN

Jin didn´t say anything, just kept staring at the paper, painfully aware that it was never sent. It seemed that the telegrapher was not only a lazy dumbass; he was also the Riders´ friend.

"What is this?!" the expression of the gunman standing above him was quite dangerous, so Jin realized he should not provoke him, but he needed some time to figure out how to explain this so that they would not shoot him on the spot.

"A telegram, I suppose," he reacted, trying to stay calm.

The skin on Cullen´s face went red and he clenched his right hand into a fist. Jin had already almost felt the hard blow on his chin, but the movement never found its intended target. It was Leo, who stood up and stopped Cullen´s hand by grabbing his wrist. They exchanged a long look, before the older man growled something and stepped back, while Leo remained in front of his older brother with an expression, which Jin didn´t like at all.

"Look, Leo…" he took a breath.

"Better think about what you´re going to say, Brother," Leo interrupted him coldly. "You´ve got only one chance to explain."

Jin could see his brother was more than serious about what he said; he really needed to be careful and if possible honest at the same time.

"That message is for my friend, I´ve told you about him – he was the one who had helped me before, on Karnaka´s farm," Jin explained slowly, aware of the hostile stares all around the room, but he focused his attention specifically on Leo. His brother was his only certainty now. "He couldn´t go to search for you with me right away, but he was supposed to follow me shortly after. I just wanted to let him know…"

"Your friend isn´t a friend to us," Cullen snorted. "I can so imagine what you had planned. You wanted to reveal Leo´s location to some buddy of yours, wait for his arrival and then, once you would have your backup, to betray Leo!"

"That´s not true!" Jin denied immediately.

"Why did you want to send it secretly then?!" the older gunman confronted him.

Jin sighed heavily: "Exactly because of this… You don´t trust me. I doubt you´d have let me send it."

"That´s exactly right! We aren´t stupid, Akanishi. Why do you think Leo is still free?" Cullen was the only one talking so far, but it was obvious he had a support of everyone else.

"Because you´re careful…" Jin reacted, holding onto his composure. "But I am careful in this as well! I would not send it to anyone whom I don´t trust completely!"

"Do you realize that the telegraphists actually read those messages?!" the gunman asked him caustically.

"I do! That´s why I didn´t mention any surname!" Jin burst out.

"That´s a bullshit!" upset Cullen folded the paper into the small ball and threw it away. "What you did was too dangerous for all of us!" then the man turned to his silent boss. "He´s a traitor, Leo! You shouldn´t…!"

"That´s enough," Leo cut into Cullen´s angry speech surprisingly calm, observing his brother´s face closely. "Did you tell us the truth?" he asked slowly then.

"Of course, I did!" Jin assured him fiercely. "You know what I´ve told you, Leo! I´m on your side and I want to help you!"

"I wonder what that means in your case," Cullen growled.

Jin didn´t pay any attention to the man; it would have been useless to try and persuade him about anything. But Leo was his younger brother, his family, and the only one who truly knew Jin.

"Leo. I know it´s difficult, but… You can trust me," he stated firmly.

And to his relief, the younger Akanishi nodded slowly: "I do trust you, Brother."

"Leo!" Cullen exclaimed. "You just don´t realize that he…"

"As I said," the Riders´ leader ignored the man´s objections. "I trust you, Jin, but I cannot let you send that telegram. Cullen is right in this – I didn´t remain out of prison because I dared to be careless."

The common murmur in the tavern agreed with him completely, only Cullen was obviously unsatisfied.

"We still have a lot to do, so let´s get back to packing up!" Leo announced, after which everyone went to take care for their duties, nobody even glancing at Jin.

The older Akanishi remained sitting in his chair, making a lot of effort not to let his upset feeling show. Once again, he made the Riders distrust him. Just great. And what more – he couldn´t let Kame know where he was. Damn it…

"You understand, right?" Leo asked slowly when even Cullen left the taproom, after literally throwing Jin´s gun into his lap.

Jin repaid his younger brother´s look and nodded wordlessly. He had a feeling that it would have turned out into an argument, if he said something.

"Fine. Help Ryo with the supplies, if you want… See you outside," Leo left the room as well, in a fast pace.

Jin stood up only once he was alone. Then he turned and kicked the chair down to the floor with a loud thud. Unfortunately, it didn´t relieve his anger even a bit.

***

When Kame returned to Blake Street, it was already dark. The sun kept hiding behind the horizon quite soon during this time of the year.

Tired and depressed, Kame was looking forward to a warm dinner at least, even if it meant sacrificing his remaining money. After he left his dear mare in a comfy stable, he headed to the pub part of the saloon´s ground floor. The place behind the reception counter was empty, but in contrary to the previous evening, the taproom was filled with many voices and clinging of glasses.

Kame ordered a beer and meal at the bar and searched for a vacant chair. There were only a few, and he chose the place where he could sit with his back to the wall. While waiting for his dinner, he scanned all the faces in the saloon. There was a group of tired workers, three youngsters, who seemed to have their first beer ever, two farmers with their wives, some merchants in neat suits, a couple of armed strangers and solitary gunslingers, and in the middle of the room four surprisingly loud men in blue uniforms.

It seemed that the soldiers had already drunk quite a lot and they were arguing about something, earning upset stares from the other customers. It could be easily assumed that the men were there without their superior, otherwise they wouldn´t have dared to behave so rudely.

Kame was served with a good-smelling beef steak, a plate of hot beans, a steamed corn and two slices of fresh bread. That was more than he had expected for the price and he buried his spoon into the beans hungrily.

"And I say it´s about time to put an end to those gangsters! Once for all, no matter what it takes!" the shouting of one drunk soldier made most of the taproom quiet.

"Now you said it, man!" the other one joined him.

"I´m amazed by how brave you´re now," another one snorted. "You were scared shitless under that bridge!"

"Don´t you dare to call me a coward!" the sturdy soldier roared. "I was not the one throwing my rifle away first!"

"But I´m not showing off how bravely I defended the carriage!"

"Hey, calm down, you two! Those were the Riders! They´d have killed you otherwise!"

"Exactly," the calmer of the two agreed. "And Tabor´s silver isn´t worth of it."

"You should watch your mouth!" the louder one snapped at him. "Do you wish for a bullet to your head?"

But the other soldier just rolled his eyes.

"Misters Soldiers, how many of them were there?" a young male servant bringing them more beers asked curiously.

"At least ten!" the sturdy one hit the table with the empty tankard. "All dressed in black, dark as crows and just as sneaky…"

"Liar! They were only five!" his companion revealed the truth immediately.

"Shut up!!" the first one yelled with his face red.

"The moment of surprise was on their side; that was our doom," the third one assumed gloomily.

"Are they as it´s said? Merciless, armed from head to toes and riding pitch black horses, which are the fastest in the west?" the boy continued asking.

"Just from where are you kids taking these tales?" the last and the oldest soldier shook his head, sipping on the new beer.

"Most of them are true," one of his companions snorted.

By that time, the whole saloon was listening to the soldiers´ conversation, including Kame who somewhat forgot to continue eating.

"They should have provided us some back-up," the calmest soldier assumed. "There were already too many troubles with them…"

"Yes!" the loud soldier even stood up from his chair. "Where´s the government, when our lives are threatened?!"

"You´re are the one who should just shut up now," his colleague informed him.

"But we do wonder about the same thing," one of the merchants raised his voice, while the other one was nodding seriously. "The government should do something about those gangsters already. Nobody wants to guard my carriages unless I paid them highly. This is ruining the business for everyone!"

"Then we will do something about it!" the soldier announced confidently. "Let´s organize a hunt after those cocky Riders!"

"And just how would you like to hunt them down, when we don´t know where they´re?" another soldier asked him mockingly.

"We will prepare a trap! We will get them! Citizens of Denver! I – Sergeant of the thirty-seventh unit – promise that…!"

His older companion grabbed the man´s arm and made him sit down.

"You´ll get yourself into troubles if you speak like that, idiot. You were not even promoted yet!"

The scolded soldier stared into his tankard sulking.

"Where did they ambush you, anyway?" the other merchant asked worriedly. "I expect some delivery tomorrow…"

"On the main connection with the Castle Rock," the other soldier replied. "But it seems they operate pretty much everywhere. Last time, it was west from the city, now they moved south…"

"They´re damn annoying…" his louder colleague growled.

Kame stopped listening to drunken blabbering and complaints for a while. He was thinking, completely forgetting about the already cooling meal in front of him.

If the Riders kept launching their ambushes on the roads around Denver, there were not so many places, where they could have had a safe hiding. They would have been too exposed close to the rushing city, if they were that impressive as it was said. So maybe they were hiding in the mountains? They could not be very far, to keep their convenient position, and the foot of the first hills of Rocky Mountains was pretty close.

"Did anyone try to chase after them?" it was the serving boy asking again.

"We were tied up, you little dumbass! How could we?" the drunken man snorted.

The boy squeezed the plate for tankards sheepishly: "I mean, before…"

"Of course, of course!" the soldier proclaimed. "There´s a damn big bunch of bounty hunters going after that crazy reward, which was written on Akanishi´s head!" he waved with his hand widely. "I bet that the third of you think you might catch him and grab the money for yourself!"

"It´s a damn shame nobody has been successful yet," the other soldier murmured.

"Unfortunately… But it´s only a matter of time before they make some mistake," his older colleague stated his opinion.

That was really highly possible with all those soldiers and hunters coming after the gang; Kame just hoped that when the time comes, and something really goes wrong, Jin will not be included in it…

With much less enthusiasm, he finished his dinner, while the main bartender insisted on not serving any more beers unless the soldiers calm down.

The taproom was gradually emptying, but the soldiers remained sitting in their seats, discussing something not so loudly anymore, but still obviously arguing. When the most talkative of them stood up and staggering a little headed outside, Kame took his chance, paid for the meal and rushed after the man.

He was right in assuming the soldier went for a piss, so he waited behind the corner till he was finished and set on his way back. Then Kame pretended to be on a rush from the inside and bumped into the man slightly.

"Oh! I´m very sorry, Mister."

The drunkard had some troubles to focus his eyes at the young stranger.

"Watch your step, boy," he warned him with a heavy tongue.

"Of course, I´ll be more careful," Kame nodded diligently. "Though, it´s an honor to meet you personally."

"How´s that so?" the man asked surprised.

"I admire how you fight against those thieves and murderers, really. You´re very brave," Kame flattered the soldier easily.

"That I am!" the man sucked more air into his lungs, pushing his chest higher. "It´s our… duty to protect…!"

"I appreciate it a lot. That had to be quite a terrifying experience, to be ambushed out there."

"We were outnumbered, you know," the drunker reacted proudly. "Otherwise…"

"I fully understand, Mister… Would you mind telling me where exactly that was? It had to be a place really inconvenient for you."

"Damn it was!" the soldier confirmed fiercely, wobbling a little from one feet to another. "They jumped on us at the bridge just a few miles south on that road! There´s that fucking famous rock… Damn, how it was called… It looks like piece of shit, but people won´t stop talking about it."

Kame assumed it was impossible to get anything more specific from the man.

"Sneaky bastards, that they´re," the soldier added upset again. "Be careful not to encounter with them, boy!"

"I will. Thank you for the warning, Mister."

The soldier disappeared back inside, almost missing the entrance, as he kept murmuring the curses aimed on the Riders´ heads. The humble expression disappeared from Kame´s face the second the soldier was out of his sight. At least he had something to start with now. He will find out what that famous rock is, and he might check the surroundings of that place, and who knows, maybe…

Almost inaudible sound of something shifting made Kame turn around, with the hand already placed on the stock of his gun. Between the saloon´s back wall and a few sheds of unknown purpose there was a narrow alley full of dark shadows. But Kame felt someone´s stare despite the darkness.

"Who´s there?" he asked sharply.

"That was smart," a hoarse voice reached out to him from the shadows, which moved suddenly and revealed a sinewy man in long coat. "As one of very few you seem to have some brain cells left, kid."

Kame remained on alert, ready for an attack or anything else what he might have expected from the stranger, who obviously listened to his dialogue with that nasty drunkard. But he kept silent, while the man approached even closer, so that he had a better view at his face, which was covered with dark stubble. Kame realized that he was one of the lonely gunslingers in the taproom, sitting not far from his own table.

"I have a proposal for you," the unknown gunman said in the end.

"I don´t know you, Mister, what business you might have with me?" Kame asked, suspiciously keeping his distance.

"I know you´re looking for at least one Akanishi and it seems to me that maybe even for both."

Kame stiffened upon hearing that. How was it possible that man knew…?

"I heard you talking with Mrs. April on your arrival," the man explained as if he suspected what was going through Kame´s head.

You have a damn good hearing then, Kame thought. It was true that the space was almost empty at that time, so the words might have reached to the taproom.

"Just to be clear, I´m after the younger one," the gunman continued.

"What do you mean by that?" Kame frowned.

"Please, do you think I´m as stupid as that woman?" the stranger snorted. "I seriously doubt there´s so many Akanishi´s around. Not to mention I know that Leo has an older brother. And you know that as well."

"You´re assuming too much, Mister," Kame noted carefully.

"But correctly, don´t I?" the man smirked.

Kame hesitated. He couldn´t be sure about what that man was really after, but the truth was that two could succeed where one was hopeless.

"Let´s say you do," he admitted slowly. "So, you´re after the bounty?"

"A man would have to be crazy to refuse such a generous contribution from the government," the gunman assumed. "I admit; I usually work alone…"

"As you´re good at it, right?" Kame cut in.

The white teeth could be seen in the darkness for a moment.

"I am. I take my job seriously. I´m not one of those self-called hunters, who don´t know a shit about what it takes. Thought this time, there´s just too many of Riders for one handy man... I´d have welcomed a help of someone capable."

Kame was thinking quickly. I would not be bad to continue searching with someone, who might lead him to the right place, despite their motivations being clearly different. And yet, he realized that the bounty hunter just wanted to use him, because he found out that Kame knew another Akanishi.

"As there´s no bounty on the older one´s head, I don´t care why are you searching for him," the stranger continued. "I just need to know if you´re willing to help me catch the younger one."

Well, of course that Kame was not willing to do that at all. He didn´t know Leo, but he would not even think about doing something nasty to Jin´s brother, no matter what the younger one did. But this was a great chance to move further and he decided to seize it.

"I want a half of the bounty," he stated firmly. It was better to pretend he was after money, than to admit he had his personal reasons for the Akanishi search.

The stranger laughed shortly: "That´s even better than I had hoped… How good are you with a gun, kid?"

"Enough to keep myself alive," Kame replied calmly. "And I know many other useful things."

"I think I´m starting to like you, man. All right. So, my proposal - we cooperate during the search and catching that Riders´ leader or whatever. In case we find the older one as well, that´s on you. The two can cover each other´s back and half to half is a fair deal."

"Dead or alive?" Kame asked.

"Does it matter to you?" the bounty hunter returned the question.

"And to you?"

"Well…" the man smirked again. "Seems we´re about to have some trust issues, but a common goal is enough to overcome it. So… I´m Ralph Harvey," the gunman introduced himself reaching out with his hand.

Kame was not completely sure it was a good idea to make partnership with that man, who was obviously eager to get his hands on the wanted Jin´s brother and more than willing to kill him to get that reward, despite not saying it aloud.

But with an experienced bounty hunter, it was highly probable he would be able to find Leo much faster and maybe even Jin along with him. And if the worst was about to happen, he could be there to prevent it, so all things considered, it was better to keep his eyes on this hunting Mister. With this resolution, Kame accepted the offered hand and repaid Harvey´s grip firmly.