Jude’s brows rose. “You could always ask. Or we could just buy it so you can take the thing apart and rebuild it the way you want.”
Excitement surged at that idea. “Let’s. That’s a good idea.”
He shifted his focus to the clusters of people milling around the store. "You seen Two Stones yet?" They'd split up from their Salish friend that morning, all searching a different direction from town for any sign of Gil or Sampson.
Jude shook his head. "Not yet. But he said he'd meet us here when the sun is three fingers from the horizon." He glanced out the western-facing window. “Which should be about now.”
Miles glanced out too, squinting against the late afternoon sunlight. The streets of Canvas Creek were bustling with activity, but there was no sign of their friend's tall, lean frame and pitch-black hair. Had he found someone who knew where Gil had gone? They'd been searching for days now, following every lead and rumor, but he seemed to have vanished without a trace. Just like Sampson had.
A knot twisted in Miles’s belly.
A voice sounded from the counter, Mr. Smith asking another customer what he needed. Miles let his gaze wander to the exchange. He and Jude were far enough out of the way that he wouldn’t be caught staring.
“Need what’s on this list.” The fellow slid a scrap of paper across the surface.
Mr. Smith adjusted his spectacles and scanned the note, his balding head gleaming in the late afternoon light slanting through the windows. "Most of these are medicines. Somebodysick?" He turned and reached for bottles on the shelves behind him.
"Just fill it quick as you can. And add a couple bottles of whiskey and a pound of coffee."
As the clerk worked, the customer leaned against the counter, his gaze restlessly roaming the store. When his eyes met Miles's, he looked away.
Was it his imagination or was the man hiding something? Miles left the row of tools and wandered that way, pretending to examine the tins of tobacco lined up near the register.
The stranger drummed his fingers on the countertop. Then he asked, "You got a doctor around these parts?"
Smith paused, a bottle of some dark liquid in his hand. "Nearest one's in Helena, a half day's ride from here."
The man cursed under his breath. "Just my luck."
As the clerk set the last items in the crate beside the customer, the fellow reached for it. "Put it on Mick's tab."
Mick?
Miles straightened, exchanging a sharp glance with Jude as the stranger strode out of the store, the door slamming behind him.
Jude stepped toward Miles and spoke low. "We need to go. Now."
Miles’s gaze darting back to the pickax. "Can I just purchase that real quick? Or get one more measurement?—"
"Miles." Jude's voice turned urgent. "He’s the man Gil and Sampson were searching for. This could be our best chance at finding them."
He turned to follow Jude. "Let's go."
They left the store and turned right, staying a distance behind the man from the store.
In Miles’s mind, he called to his brothers.Hang on, boys.We're coming for you.
Shadows flicked on the rock walls as Jess crept along the corridor, her breath shallow and her pulse racing. Thank God she’d taken the shortcut through the tunnel back from the storage closet, where she’d gathered more willow bark.
The words she'd just overheard echoed in her mind, each one like a dagger to her heart. Her father's cruel instructions to Jedidiah rang in her ears—move the sapphires Gil had found to a new location, somewhere in a different mountain.
Then make sure Gil met with anaccident.
Nausea rose in her throat.
He would have her husband killed. The father of her child.
Of course, Gil was neither of those things, but Father didn’t know that.
