River

Ben

I anxiously watch as Mason draws back his hand just a little, and I see the point of his dagger is no longer embedded in David’s skin. There are more delicate parts down there than privates. I know that there is an artery right there that could cause him to bleed out in minutes if Mason cuts it. As it is, he’s done some damage, and bright red blood is seeping out, a spreading stain on his pants. Not the artery, I can tell, it isn’t pulsing. He’ll be okay as long as Mason doesn’t jab him again.

I can’t see any way to get us out of this without just doing whatever Mason wants. The knife is too close. If I lunge at him, or leave the table, or shout for help, it would only take Mason a second to make the fatal cut. He’s watching my hands on the table, and I know if I move them too fast he’ll hurt David again. I have to try to give him what he wants. David is pale, trying to control his breathing, trying to stay as still as possible, also keeping his hands on the table like we’ve been ordered.

“Start talking,” Mason growls at me.

I just stare at him for a second, not sure where to begin. He furrows his brow, twitches the knife, and I speak in a rush. Gregor seems to be his trigger, I’ll tell him about that. “We are working for Gregor. He’s the one paying for the dock expansion. That’s why we’ve been talking to him.”

He snorts. “Gregor is your boss?”

I nod. I know it sounds ridiculous.

“So he was too stupid to recognize you from the Trace?”

I’m not quick enough to think of a way to deceive him, so I just answer honestly. “No, he recognized us. He hired us anyway.”

“Is that so?” Mason asks, considering this. In a moment, he adds, “Where does he live?”

“Up in town.”

The knife twitches again, and David draws in a sharp breath. Mason glares at me. Stu is just watching this scenario unfold. We have all forgotten about the card game.

I tell him the name of the street. I’ve gone there once or twice, delivering things for Gregor.

“Tell me more about it. Who is there?”

“Um, Gregor, and his wife.” I can’t take my eyes off the knife. It twitches again, and I don’t even know what I’ve done wrong this time. I keep talking, trying to satisfy him. “They have a couple of servants too.”

“Slaves?”

“Er, no, just hired help. I think maybe a cook and a gardener.”

“Do they live there too?”

“I don’t think so. I think they are only there during the day.”

“And Gregor comes down here during the day? To work on the dock?”

“Yes, usually. It’s been a few days since he was here, though, he said he was busy with something else.”

Mason looks like he is thinking about everything I have told him. He taps the knife against David’s thigh, like someone would tap their fingers on a table while they are considering something. It is incredibly menacing, and David looks like he is holding his breath. I see Mason purse his lips thoughtfully, under his heavy, matted beard. I have an unexpected flash of Samuel’s clean shaven face, his sharp jawline, and the contrast between that memory and the hairy vision before me is so extreme that it hurts.

After a minute, Mason asks, “Does Gregor ever mention me?”

I am confused. “You mean, about the day on the Trace?”

Mason nods.

“Well, no, not that, but….”

“But what?”

“He has mentioned you, but I don’t know if it is because he knows who you are.”

He glares at me and jabs David again, a little lower on his leg, and a new spot of blood starts growing. David clenches his teeth.

“You’re talking nonsense,” Mason barks at me.

“I’m sorry! Please, don’t -”

He lets up, lifts the knife again, and David exhales.

With Mason glaring at me, the knife twitching, I say, “I just mean, that everyone has been talking about you. There’s a reward. Gregor mentioned that he has put up money for it. I don’t know if he knows that the person he saw on the Trace is the same person who a reward is offered for.”

He inhales and looks up at the ceiling for a moment. “There’s a reward? Gregor is paying a reward? For me?”

I wish I didn’t have to tell him, I know it will just anger him. “Yes, for the capture of Mason and his gang.”

“And his gang, eh?” He looks like he finds this very interesting.

“Well, yes,” I say, not sure what this is leading to.

“So,” Mason says, “there’s a reward for your capture as well.”

“What?” I ask. David is distracted from his pain for a moment and looks just as shocked as I am.

“You’re part of my gang. You were before, and you are now.”

I shake my head, startled, and he jabs David one more time. A new spot grows, and David grows even more pale.

“You are. And if you don’t do exactly what I say, I’ll see to it that you are reported to the authorities. Stu here will do it, right Stu?”

Stu shrugs noncommittally, but that seems to be enough for Mason.

What else could he possibly want from us?

“Here is what you are going to do, both of you,” Mason says to David and I. “I want you to watch Gregor, and his house, and his wife, and his servants, and tell me everything. What time he goes to work. When his servants arrive. When his wife is alone in the house. Everything. I will come back here in a couple of days, and I want a full report. Do you understand? If you try to double-cross me, I will make sure that you hang as part of the gang they are looking for.”

My mouth is hanging open, I’m sure of it. He puts his knife away, and I can tell he realizes that he doesn’t need it any more. He is controlling us just as surely without it. He looks at Stu. “Come and walk with me,” he tells him. Stu shrugs, gets up, and follows Mason out the door without a second glance at us.

David slumps down against the table. “Come on,” I tell him, and help him up. I can’t think of anything to do except just get him home, back to the boarding house, and have him sleep. I don’t think he’s lost too much blood. I think the boarding house has some supplies I can use to clean him up, then he’ll just need rest. And I need to think.

Nobody else in the tavern pays any attention to any of this, of course. A little blood-letting, a little extortion, a little crime, is nothing to denizens of the Kentucky Tavern. I guess we all fit right in.

Gregor’s

It is a dilemma. I have encouraged my beloved to take comfort with his wife, and he is doing so, with a great deal of enthusiasm. They are deeply engrossed in their activities, in the pleasure that they are sharing.

But I have information that Gregor will want to have. Mason has come into town again, for the first time in weeks. I have been watching and waiting for this to happen. Gregor relies on me to report to him.

However, I do not wish to interrupt Gregor’s intimacy at this very moment. I hope that he will agree later that it would have been unfair to Rosalind to start this episode of lovemaking, only to interrupt it with unwelcome news.

I plan to tell him later, after he is finished. Their session lasts for hours, though, and afterwards he falls into such a deep and refreshing sleep that I cannot bring myself to interrupt that either. Restorative sleep is a rare and precious thing.

It will have to wait until morning.

Mason

Stu is on board. He will keep an eye on the other two for me, make sure that they aren’t trying to pull anything. I expect to hear a report that they have been watching Gregor and his house for me.

This is the chance I have been waiting for, all this time. I am finally going to be able to get my revenge against that prissy foreigner and his whore wife. I’ll let them watch him for a couple of days, to see if there is a pattern.

Then, when I know that she is alone, I will strike. It won’t be anything at all to make her come with me. I can get her a couple of hours up the Trace before he realizes she is missing.

Then I will have my way.

I am so hard thinking about it. I had planned to go to Beverly’s after the tavern, but I have thought better of it. If there is a reward, I can be sure that Beverly will be more than happy to report me. I could tell last time I was there that she wasn’t happy to see me. Reward money would be more than worth it to lose me as a customer. So, I can’t go there. I’ll have to suffer without a whore tonight.

But I will have her in a few days, and anything I have suffered while I am waiting, she will pay for.

I lick my lips in anticipation, then move out of Natchez in the dark, to find a place to hide while I am waiting for my report. I’ll be back.