The Gathering of the Band of Six
“Not a chance, Taru,” Onni Talks-to-Spirits said. “They’re not going.”
“Who asked you?” The question erupted from Taru Walks-the-World and Tuuri Face-Like-Baby simultaneously.
“Hi.” Lalli Ghost-of-Forest appeared with his usual stealth. With incredible despatch, Tuuri bundled him into the waiting stagecoach, climbing in after him.
“Look, I’m taking these two to Milwaukee, and that’s that.” Having tired of the stick, Taru extended the carrot. “You can come with us, you know. We can find something for you to do that won’t mean... mingling.”
For a moment, Onni looked tempted; then, he looked agonized. “I can’t.”
Taru nodded. “Then, farewell, Onni Talks-to-Spirits.” She nodded at the driver, who whipped up the horses.
“Don’t worry, Big Brother,” Tuuri called as they pulled away. “We’ll be back before the New Year.”
*
Milwaukee was the biggest, most bustling place Tuuri had ever seen; so much so that getting to the Westbrooks’ place seemed a nice respite, at least after the kids were sloughed off. This was one time when she was certain Lalli felt exactly as she did.
She was a little dubious about their new team-mate, Emil “the Dude”--the sobriquet had leapt into her mind when she first saw him and simply stuck there. Sometimes he was frightfully arrogant, but then he’d turn around and do something really nice. Lalli seemed to be warming to him unusually fast, too, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that, either.
Then they told Tuuri that they’d meet up with the two senior members of the team down in Council Bluffs before heading out further West to their “target”, somewhere in the depths of the Wyoming Territory, and she was a bit reassured.
“Captain Eide’s a woman. That won’t be a problem for you, will it, Emil?”
“Man, woman, red, black, yellow or white: if she’s as good as you’ve said, I’ll follow her.”
That settled, they went to the train station.
*
The first leg of their journey, to Chicago, had passed without incident, aside from Lalli displaying a peculiar reluctance to board their next train. After a bit of time to himself, though, he’d bounded to join them, and all was well.
They were only a few hours out of Chicago when the bandits attacked. The train guards had jumped right into action, though, and the few who’d boarded were quickly cut down, but not before Lalli & Emil had blundered into the middle of the shoot-out.
Oddly enough, one of the dying bandits had recognized Emil, going so far as to try to grab hold of him. Emil had promptly screamed like a girl--and decked the bandit like a man. He then herded Lalli back to their bunks and passed out.
*
When they reached Council Bluffs, they had to switch trains again, but on this next leg, they’d be joined by their leader, the fearless Captain Eide, and their medic, Doc Madsen. They were really, really, really tall; in fact, Tuuri had never met two people as tall as they were.
Aside from extreme height, though, the two of them couldn’t have been more different: where Sigrun was brash, decisive and talkative (Tuuri later concluded that Sigrun’s rapid chatter was really one of her best weapons), Mikkel was cautious, contemplative and very nearly as taciturn as Lalli.
Their mission remained a secret, though, until they finally left the train in Green River, ready to strike north.
*
“Two and a half years ago, the Westbrook family fortune was entrusted to a Wyoming prospector who had literally stumbled into a fortune--a fortune in sapphires and rubies. All he needed, said he, was the funding to start mining and the gems would flow like water from a pump.” Emil paused. “Now, the way tales like this usually end is that the ‘prospector’ vanishes with all the money, leaving nothing behind but the echoes of his false promises. Instead, he brought us all out to see the mine and to sign ‘a few unimportant forms appurtenant to the venture’. Those forms gave him everything and left us with a pittance--barely a cent on each dollar that had been invested. But that isn’t the worst of it. According to my uncle, the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] is using slave labor to work the mines.”
A gasp sounded outside their window. A six-shooter appeared in Sigrun’s hand, but before she could do anything else, a tall, gangly red-headed boy with a long braid crashed into the room. Through the shattered window, Tuuri could see Lalli looking smug.
“Great,” Sigrun commented grimly, “a spy.”
After some very fast talking by the lurker (Reynir Arnason, a runaway from the family farm just trying to see the world--who’d gotten stuck in Green River with no money, food, or prospects), Sigrun had agreed to bring him along “to help care for the horses”.
Well, at least they were on their way, moving north along the Green River as fast as they dared.
What awaited them, however, was more than they’d planned on...
