Earthbound (25 page)

“See?” Pace said to Becca. “We do need to buy
your safety.”

“How ‘bout all your other money you stole
from the other banks?” Lister asked. “Can we have that too?” A
reasonable if greedy question I suppose.

“Come on now,” Pace scolded. “You’ll need us
to leave the Great Plains as much as we do, and we can’t leave
empty handed. We kept just enough so we could afford to get out of
here.” Then Pace tossed a gold coin over to Boze, who caught it.
“Any more questions?”

Boze examined the gold coin make sure it was
real. Which of course it was. Then he swung his rifle upright and
handed it to one of the other Nuggets named Priestly. Not much
Priest-ly about that guy. Boze walked over to Pace, staring at him
warily. He stopped, looking down at the shoulder bag. He looked up
at Pace… and what happened next really surprised me. Boze extended
his hand to Pace. And Pace took it.

“This gives us both a bit of a clean start,”
Boze said.

Pace agreed. “We’ll be out of your hair right
now.” He quickly stepped over to Becca and tried to give her a hug,
but she was in shock or whatever. She couldn’t hug back.

I held out my hand for my revolver. Boze
emptied out the bullets, but then returned it to me just the same.
Even let me keep the bullets.

I stared intently at Boze. “You’ll keep up
your end of the bargain, right? You’ll watch after her?”

Boze looked at me for a second. Then he
slowly nodded. “If she’ll let me.”

I knew she wouldn’t, but I knew he’d keep her
safe anyway. And she’d hate that. I tipped my hat to show my
appreciation, for the first time thankful that Boze was around.

Pace saddled up on his horse. “Boze…
gentlemen… pleasure doing business with you. Let’s go, Ash.”

I went to mount my horse but Becca rushed
over and pulled on my leg.

“So that’s it?” she cried. “You’re leaving?
You’re really leaving for good?”

I’m not gonna lie in this moment, my heart
was just bleeding. But what could I do.

“You okay if I take a moment?” I asked Boze.
He nodded reluctantly, and turned around to give us a little
privacy. Then I took Becca in my arms. “Last chance,” I whispered.
“You wanna come with us or not?”

“Oh Asher,” Becca moaned. “I can’t…”

“
Now
Ash,” Pace urged me. “Let’s get
going
now
!”

“One second,” I said. I couldn’t help it. If
this was it for me and Becca, I needed to savor the moment. I
leaned in and gave Becca the biggest hug I could muster. Would’a
kissed her too but she wasn’t having it. Probably couldn’t reach
her lips through all those tears anyway.

If I was paying attention I woulda heard
something. Rummaging. It was Lister. The dumb one. He was opening
up one of the saddlebags of gold. Greedy shit.

“Ash!” Pace said with urgency. “
Right
now
!”

“What the eff!” I replied, wanting to have my
moment. But I didn’t know what was coming next.

“Ain’t no gold in here!” Lister said like
he’d discovered gold. “Just rocks!”

Everybody froze in that second. I managed a
look at Pace who kinda gave me a smirking shrug. That effer. He
took on the job of filling those saddlebags with the gold. And he
was about to get us all killed.

All the shotguns that had been laid to the
side were now back in action. Pace drew his weapon too. And me, the
most capable in this situation, I just had Becca in my hands.

I had to do something, before we all died
right in the same spot my mother died. I owed her to at least die
somewhere else.

My revolver was emptied of bullets of course,
but I had my spare I kept in my boot. They never asked me for my
spare. I pulled it out and instead of pointing it at the Nuggets I
held it close against Becca’s temple.

“Back off or I’ll shoot her!” I shouted.

Couldn’t see Becca’s eyes in that moment but
I can only imagine. I was doing the fake hostage thing. Learned
that trick in Augusta. Course I would never harm Becca. But did
Boze know that?

“He’s bluffing,” Birkin scoffed. “Let’s gun
‘em all down.”

I stared at Boze. The Nuggets would follow
his orders. He was in control of this situation as much as I
was.

“I’m never seeing her again anyway,” I
yelled. “And I’m desperate. Sorry Becca but if this is my end it’s
yours too. Kinda romantic, right?”

“Just shoot her, Ash!” Pace taunted. He knew
what I was up to. He was raising the stakes.

Poor Becca. I could only imagine what was
goin’ through her head.

“I can take a shot without hurting her,”
Priestly told Boze.

“You could,” Pace interjected, aiming his
pistols back and forth between Boze and Birkin and Lister and
Priestly. But I’ll get two of you. The only question is which
two?”

“What’s your call?” I asked Boze. The bastard
turned kinda pale. He’s never been much under pressure, like when
those Mankins came to town. Then he did what I thought he’d do. He
folded.

“Weapons down!” he called out.

“Hell no!” Birkin countered.

Boze grabbed hold of Birkin’s shotgun and
cracked him in the jaw. “I said weapons down!”

The other Nuggets complied, not wanting to
get cracked in the jaw themselves.

I didn’t wait around to find out they planned
on staying obedient. I backed up, still holding my gun up to
Becca’s head, until I reached Charon. “Cover me,” I told Pace. Then
I turned, hopped up on Charon, and pulled Becca right up into my
saddle behind me. “Hold on tight,” I uttered. I felt her arms
embrace my stomach. And we were off.

I turned around and saw Boze and his Nuggets
were still disoriented. There was a lot of yelling though. I looked
back at Pace who was riding right behind us.

“Rocks!” I shouted. “Lots of rocks! Are you
effing crazy!”

“I’m sorry Ash!” he shouted back. “I couldn’t
do it! I just couldn’t do it! I thought we’d get away with it!”

“It wasn’t worth the risk! You’re supposed to
be the smart one!”

“Shut up and ride faster!” Becca yelled right
in my ear. She was watching the Nuggets herself. “They’re mounting
their horses. Chasing after us!” I didn’t need to turn around to
confirm. I’d trust anything she’d say. Not sure she’d feel the same
way after I pointed a gun at her head.

Once we put enough distance between ourselves
and the roar of the falls, I could hear hoofbeats fast approaching
from behind us.

“Hyah!” Pace yelled, pushing his horse faster
and faster. I didn’t have to give Charon similar instructed. He got
it all by himself.

We rode through a small outcropping of trees.
Right about then I heard a rifle shot. I pulled out my revolver and
reloaded, ready to return fire. I figured we weren’t close enough
to hit each other though. I needed to save my ammunition and
wait.

More rifle fire. Warning shots. They must’ve
been warning shots. Unless some of the Nuggets had broken away from
Boze. Then there was no telling what they would do.

Charon was a better horse than anything they
rode, for sure. Flashbound too. I was sure those Nuggets couldn’t
catch us straight away. But we couldn’t run forever. We’d already
thought that through. Our contingency plan. I’d hoped it’d
work.

We hit the bridge at Route 87. And when I say
hit, I mean hit. I tugged Charon hard left onto the bridge and
leapt on it hard, and Pace didn’t have time to follow gingerly. Our
horses were full running across the bridge.

“Asher!” Becca shouted. “This bridge can’t
handle this!”

“I know!” I replied. “That’s the point!”

That bridge that we had so carefully walked
across – we were now testing it to its limit.

Buckshot hit the bridge somewhere behind us.
I couldn’t tell where. I turned and saw the four of them riding
their horses onto the bridge at full speed. This was gonna be
interesting.

The road buckled behind Charon, and a huge
chunk of the bridge gaped downward. Flashbound leapt across it just
as that part of the bridge gave way and started to fall into the
river.

“A little faster, Pace!” I called out. This
was gonna be close.

Over the flurry of hoofbeats I heard the
whining sound of metal breaking away from its moorings. The bridge
was about to collapse. I turned around and saw another chunk of
road detach itself right in front of Boze. He pulled back to stop
his horse suddenly, not sure he could handle the leap across.
Lister stopped short too. But not Birkin and Priestly. Their horses
handily leapt across, and then leapt again over the first gap in
the road that Charon had opened up. Birkin raised his shotgun to
fire. Now he was too close. As fast as we were going, they were
going a little faster. I took my shot – clipping Birkin in the
hand. His shotgun went flying. Priestly didn’t seem like he was
gonna let go either hand from his reins, so I felt confident there
were no more bullets coming. I turned forward and saw we were
nearing the end of the bridge. We were close.

Just then, the entire bridge buckled
downward. Suddenly we were on a forty-five degree angle. The bridge
had snapped in two. When I had turned to shoot, Pace had gotten a
little ahead of me, he was almost to the other side. Looked like he
was gonna make it. I gave Charon a little kick with my spurs. I
needed just a little more out of him.

I turned over my shoulder and saw Priestly’s
horse losing his footing. Poor horse, he toppled over to the right
and fell off the bridge, taking his rider with him. Birkin kept
fighting gravity, but by now the bridge was getting close to a
ninety degree angle. We were all gonna fall into the river.

But no, Charon’s got too much fight in him.
He leapt forward and make it to solid ground, just seconds after
Flashbound did. I exhaled with relief, but we weren’t in the clear
yet. I turned Charon around sharply to see if Birkin was close –
but no, there was no sign of him. Becca and I dismounted and leaned
over to what was left of our half of the bridge, dangling down
directly into the Missouri. It was a helluva fall, but I suspected
they’d both survive okay if their heads didn’t smash into falling
concrete. We looked downriver and saw two horses struggling to get
their footing. I spotted Priestly swimming mightily to try to get
to the northern shore, back toward the settlement.

“Can you see Birkin?” I asked. I spotted his
hat bobbing atop the water, swept along by the current. “Maybe he
didn’t make it.”

“There he is.” Pace pointed him out, floating
lifelessly downriver. He was on his back, not his front, so that
was a likely sign he wasn’t gonna drown. But who knows what he hit
on the way down. Didn’t feel too badly for him. He was the one who
wanted to shoot us down, after all. I did feel badly for those
horses though. I hoped they’d be all right.

Pace joined me and Becca as we stood looking
back toward the northern shore. There stood Boze and Lister
alongside their horses. It was a little too far to read the
expressions on their faces, but I’m sure they were pissed off.

Pace took of his hat and waved it in the air
gleefully. “Come on Boze! Jump across!” Then he busted out laughing
at his own joke. I chuckled too. Really I was just laughing cause I
was still alive. Boze shouted back at us but we could barely hear
him. But Pace shouted back anyway. “Eff off, Boze! We’re going to
miss you!”

He waved his hat again, and then took his
horse by the reins and headed south.

I turned back for one last look at that
bridge. The half of the bridge still standing had big chunks of
concrete jutted up from the ground, and the foundation looked
unsettled like it might fall too. No one would be crossing it again
for the rest of human history. And that was to our advantage. It
would take Boze or anyone else a bunch of hours to ride around to
the east or west to rejoin our trail. And they’d never dare try to
find us in the Old City, even if they knew we were fool enough to
hide there. Never before did the Old City feel so safe.

Boze still stood on the other side of the
shore watching us go. But I was more interested in one more glance
toward Great Falls. The settlement was a part of my past now.
Little did I know that I’d probably grow to miss it.

Becca and I walked Charon up alongside Pace.
As soon as we were out of sight from the Nuggets, I stopped walking
and tapped Pace on the shoulder. He turned around and definitely
did not expect what was coming. I clocked him right in the jaw.
Didn’t pull my punch either. He crumpled to the ground clutching
his jaw.

“Ow! Jesus, Ash!”

“You coulda gotten us all killed!” I was
fired up. Becca had to hold me back.

“I just couldn’t do it, Ash. It’s our gold!
We earned it!”

“We didn’t exactly earn it!” I yelled.

“Oh I think we earned it!”

“That gold is for us to buy our freedom.
Isn’t that what we were doing?”

I backed away from Pace so as I wouldn’t beat
the shit out of him.

Then Becca called to me. “Asher?” I turned to
her and she cracked me good in the jaw. Not a bad punch, but I
think it hurt her hand. “You used me? To draw out Boze to pay them
off? You used me?”

“Don’t forget,” Pace interjected with a mouth
full of blood, “he put a gun up to your head too.”

“Becca, it wasn’t like that,” I pleaded. “We
wanted you to run away with us is all.”

“Well I’m with you aren’t I?” she yelled.
“And I don’t effing want to be here!”

She stormed off, probably not sure where she
was storming off to. She must’ve been pissed. Becca never
swears.

Pace got back up on his feet. “I had that
coming,” he admitted. “Sorry, I should have warned you.”

“Damn right.”

After about a minute of watching Becca storm
off, she stopped cold. She turned to face us, hands on her hips. It
was time to catch up with her, so we did.