Peacemaker (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of
yourself, but I don’t think you should get into trouble on my behalf. You
have enough problems of your own. If he believes you’re abetting
me, he might have the power to get the law after you too. And…it’ll
be dangerous for you if you get caught between us.”
    “ He’s fixing to talk to me
regardless of what you or I want. If you tell me everything that
happened down there, at least I can try to argue your side of
things. If he could be convinced that you didn’t do it…. Does he
know about Cudgel? Maybe we could turn him into an ally against
the real criminal.”
    “ That’s not going to
happen.” Cedar set his jaw mulishly.
    Kali rolled her eyes. Why were men always
convinced things could only be sorted out with bloodshed? Why would
Cedar believe the idea of peace so impossible?
    “ Let’s get out of town for
a couple of days,” Cedar said. “If he can’t find you, he can’t
bother you.”
    “ Out of town?” she asked.
“Like up to my cave to work on building my airship? With those big
muscles of yours, I’m sure you could saw a lot of wood in a couple
of days. I’m certain you once mentioned that you’d help me, on
account of me offering to fly you around the Yukon, hunting your
nemesis once the ship is done.”
    Cedar smiled faintly. “It sounds like
Lockhart knows where that cave is. I had something else in mind. I
was thinking of a visit to your mother’s people.” Cedar prodded the
talisman again. “You said a medicine man could tell me more about
this.”
    “ Oh.” Kali sank back
against the seat. Not only did he want her to abandon her airship
project, but he wanted her to go back to a place where she would
always feel like an outcast. She had very few good memories of her
childhood, and most of the ones she did have involved being off
alone in the forest, building things.
    “ Once we figure out who’s
killing these girls and put a stop to it, I’ll help you finish the
hull,” Cedar said. “Even if Lockhart is standing there watching
us.”
    “ That a
promise?”
    “ Yes, ma’am.”
    Kali could not stir any enthusiasm for
visiting the local Hän camp. But having Cedar’s undivided
attention—and strong hands wielding a saw—for a week or two could
get her past the tedious work and on to what she wanted to do:
installing the engine. Also, maybe if she got Cedar out alone in
the woods for a while, she could get him to reveal more details
about the San Francisco murder. She couldn’t talk this Pinkerton
fellow out of hunting Cedar if she didn’t know the whole truth.
    “ Do you know where they’d
be this time of year?” Cedar asked.
    “ The Hän? Yes. King salmon
are running, so they’ll be in their river camp. Er, I guess that’s
a town now. Moosehide.”
    Cedar’s brow furrowed.
    “ The government put them
there, seeing as how Dawson grew up on top of the tribe’s old
summer camp. I know it seems strange when you look around and see
all these buildings and people from all over the world, but there
was nothing permanent here when I was growing up. Except mud. And
moose. Mostly mud.”
    “ You speak so fondly of
it,” Cedar said.
    “ You haven’t been stuck
here for an entire winter yet. You’ll see. It won’t grow on you.” Kali wanted to
finish her airship and escape before winter came again so badly
that an aching lump formed in her throat at times.
    “ Moosehide, then,” Cedar
said. “I don’t reckon I’d be able to talk to them without you. Are
you willing to go?”
    “ That depends. Are you
willing to share your fancy blanket again?”
    A smile softened his face.
“Well, it did need a lot of attention from a seamstress after the last
time you slept in it. Did no one ever educate you on proper things
to do in bed? Setting off explosives isn’t one of them.”
    “ My upbringing wasn’t
terribly proper. Besides, I dropped the smoke nuts outside the bag. I can’t
be held responsible for stray shrapnel.”
    Cedar’s smile broadened. “I