Synnergy, Chaos Time Book 3 (7 page)

“I thought that was beer. You were knocking back a
lot of that stuff, isn’t that supposed to be bad for you?”

Ari peeked at her between her fingers for a second
before her lashes fluttered shut again. She didn’t answer.

“What are you doing to yourself, Ari? Are you trying
to get yourself killed? I thought you said your father told you to
protect life. I don’t think he meant drinking yourself into a
disgusting stupor.”

She wanted to shake the healer, rattle some sense
into her brain. Okay, so fine, she was grieving, she got it. Not
like Sable hadn’t seen her fair share of crap in life, but this
wasn’t healthy. Clearly.

“You know...” But she never got a chance to finish
her thought. Arianna sprang to her feet and ran towards the open
window with a hand over her mouth. The second her head dangled out
she threw up.

The breeze lifted at that moment, rolling the rotten
stench of day old alcohol and who knew what else, through the room.
It was enough to make Sable gag and curl her nose. Pinching her
nostrils shut, she sighed. Nagging Arianna wasn’t going to help fix
this. She gathered the healer’s hair in her hands and patted Ari’s
back until she stopped hurling.

“Madre de Dios,” Ari moaned a second later and wiped
the back of her mouth with her wrist. Tears dripped from the
corners of her eyes and her nose was swollen.

“Jeez, Ari, what are we going to do with you? You’re
a mess.” She gripped Arianna’s elbow and led her back to the bed.
She sat down with a heavy sigh.

“I feel better,” she said after a moment.

“You need food.”

The mention of it had Ari turning several shades of
green. She shook her head hard. “No.”

“You need something.” Sable had no experience with
this sort of thing. What do you give someone with a massive
hangover? Alkaseltzer, but she doubted they had any of that in 1849
San Fran. So what? “Wait here, I’ll be back.”

She grabbed her robe off the hook and walked out,
heading downstairs. Like last night, there was very little sign of
life. She got to the bar and tapped her fingers when no one
appeared.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

She twisted her lips and glancing both ways, hopped
onto the bar, laying across it and peered behind. Wondering if
maybe One Eye was back and ignoring her. But he wasn’t there. She
frowned.

“Oy, what are ye doin’ there, love?”

Sable hopped off and grabbed her chest, one of the
twins headed her way. She was dressed in a black gauzy thing, wild
mane of hair crackling around her head like it’d been static
charged. She yawned big. “Well?” she asked again.

“I was um...” she jerked her thumb over her shoulder,
“where’s One Eye?”

“’Ow should I know. Comes and goes as he pleases,”
she said with a confused grin and shrugged a plump shoulder.

It was hard to pinpoint the accent, and because the
only enjoyable thing she’d been able to do in the loony bin was
watch one movie after another she’d developed an ear for speech
based off classics. This sounded a lot like the street urchins in
Oliver Twist. But whatever it was, it was difficult to
understand.

“Well, I um...need help. Ari is—”

The twin giggled. “Red in the face? Aye I saw. We all
did, but she was a right smash with the menfolk. The missus was
pleased by her purse come night’s end.”

“What?” Had she understood that correctly? “Ari gave
Long Nose money?”

“Oh, aye. Fat purse full of gold. Methinks the lady
might want ta be chargin’ more for her services.” She wiggled bushy
brows and grinned. She stopped next to Sable and the strong musk
off her body was unpleasant. Like she’d not washed in days. She
wanted to pinch her nose shut, but forced herself to stay put and
be polite.

Where had Arianna gotten the money from?

“I’d imagine the wee one is in a fine good fettle,
aye?” She mimed drinking.

Sable had zero idea what that meant, but based off
her gesture she nodded, hoping she was right and that the twin
meant Ari was hung over.

The twin grinned, two of her back molars were missing
and she nodded. “Aye, happens to the best of us. Well come then,
I’ve got a sure remedy Sarah swears by.”

Which meant this must be Liza.

Liza reached over the bar, grabbed two tin cups and
headed out the parlor. Sable followed, and it was totally nuts but
she felt naked the way men glanced at her with eyes agog when she
walked out in her robe. She belted it as tight as possible. Liza
seemed oblivious.

Still snoring where he’d been dropped the night
before, was Bob.

“It’s a right fine, mornin’.” Liza stopped next to
him for a second to sniff the air and then growled. “Bob’s pissed
em’self again.” She kicked the still form. He snorted and blinked
open heavy lidded eyes.

She shooed him. “Off you go, ye smelly bag of
shite.”

He grumbled, gingerly made his way to his feet and
stumbled off, leaving a large wet spot behind him. Sable curled her
nose.

Liza grinned. “They aren’t tall bad as at.” And with
a small shake of her head, she headed down the sidewalk a few
paces, to a corralled section of fence. Inside were two small
goats. One was brown with white speckles on its hindquarters and
the other fully black.

Stooping, Liza recovered a wooden bucket and then
thrust the metal cups at Sable. Sable frowned and stared at the
cups. What exactly were they getting ready to do?

Liza cocked her head. “If ye’d rather, ye can do the
milkin’.”

She shook her head quickly. “Umm, no thanks.”

She snorted. “I rather thought so, yer hands are lily
white and fair. I reckon ye’ve never done a day of milkin’ in yer
life. Aye?” She grabbed a short stool and then reached out for the
black goat with the largest teats. “Come ere, ye little bastard,”
she crooned, wrangling the bucking goat between her strong thighs
and rubbed its back until it started to settle down. “Right then.”
She nodded to herself a moment later and sat.

She placed the bucket underneath the obscenely large
dangling udders and started squeezing. Sable stood spell bound,
both disgusted and fascinated at the same time. Milk blasted out in
large sprays, filling the bucket quickly.

The rhythmic swish swish of the milking entranced
her. “Saw ye wit Alice last night,” Liza said it so quietly it
jerked Sable out of her hypnotic trance.

“What?”

She never stopped her work, but glanced at her. “Saw
ye with Alice.”

She nodded and smiled. “Yes, she really helped me.”
She would have said more, but Liza glowered at her.

“Ye stay far from that one. She’s trouble. I feel it
in me bones.” Her hands finally stopped moving and with a smack
against the goat’s rump, she shooed it off. It bleated angrily at
her before sauntering off on petite hooves.

Sable’s brows dipped. “I’m sorry, I don’t
understand.”

Liza stood and jerked her chin toward the cups Sable
had plastered against her body. She held them out as Liza tipped
the bucket and divided the still steaming milk into both. She
dropped the container and wiping her hands on her robe, took one of
the cups out of Sable’s lax fingers.

She glanced down at the thick creamy white fluid with
floating bits of hair and crud dancing on top. Her stomach rolled.
She started to pick them out. Liza stilled her.

“Those be the good bits.” She sipped hers and then
nodded. “Aye, keep yer distance from that one. One sister to
another, she’s naught but trouble. And take that milk before it
grows cold to the little one, it’ll soothe what ails her.”

The shift in conversation was jarring. “Now I’m off
to me, man. Likes him a wee tup in the morn before he heads back to
the streams.” Liza waved and was gone.

It all happened so fast Sable never got a chance to
formulate more questions. She wanted to kick herself all sorts of
stupid for freezing up. Grumbling to herself, she headed back to
her room. She was halfway up the stairs when she heard a low murmur
of conversation. She leaned over the railing and noticed One Eye
and Milly tucked away in shadow, they must have entered through the
back door. She was gesturing with her fist and One Eye nodded,
neither seemed to notice her.

“Yes, my lady,” One Eye said quietly, and though he
towered over her, it was clear by his subservient manner who was
the one in charge. “As you say.”

She narrowed her eyes. “See that you do, Jack. I’ll
not warn you again.” Milly started to turn, heading in Sable’s
direction.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Sable tiptoed up
the stairs, wondering what Milly had been so mad about.

Later that night found Slayde sitting at a corner
table in the Parlor playing a winning hand of cards. Hunter was
across from him, covered in more scratches than he’d ever seen. He
wondered what the boy scout had been up to. But their vaunted
leader wasn’t talking, he wasn’t even really playing, just throwing
cards down every once in a while. Mostly he was studying the thick
crowd of men and women. He avoided looking at the healer who was
sitting at the far end of the bar chugging one drink after
another.

Two other guys had joined their game about ten
minutes ago. One was eyeing his cards like a snake eyeing prey. He
almost vibrated with excitement, shifting in his seat and clearing
his throat. Obvious tell.

He threw a large nugget into the center of the table.
Slayde had a flush. Not the best hand. But there wasn’t much that
would beat it either, and he knew skinny didn’t have the goods.
Why, because Hunter was doing a piss poor job of hiding his hand.
Boy scout could have won the game four turns ago.

The other guy was hunched in his seat; he looked like
a lawyer type with his slicked back hair and bowler hat. His suit
was clean, spotless clean, and his hands didn’t look as if they’d
seen a day’s hard labor in his life. Long sooty lashes framed
bright green eyes. It made him look more pretty than masculine.

Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t from around here. You
couldn’t avoid the dust. That he was so clean, was very
telling.

Like Hunter, he wasn’t really in the game and
probably didn’t have much of a hand. His eyes shifted from his
cards to the ladies, paying particular attention to Sable who was
surrounded by a varied group of sycophantic goons. She was laughing
and twirling in that same red dress he’d slipped her out of
yesterday.

Slayde gnashed his teeth hearing her trill of
laughter and then she touched the bicep of the boy she’d been with
last night, oohing over the non-existent muscle. His lip curled.
She couldn’t honestly like them. The boy made a grab for her and he
swore that if that bastard did that again he’d kill someone. His
fingers clenched.

“Who’s the whore in red?” Monkey suit asked.

What Slayde couldn’t understand, was how city slicker
seemed to take a genuine interest in her when it was obvious to
anyone with half an eye the kid was gay.

City boy turned and looked square at Hunter who sat
up, clearing his throat. He pretended to look over his shoulder as
if he didn’t know who the bastard meant.

Slayde gave the tinniest shake of his head, a silent
gesture that Hunter would keep her name private.

“Heard the ladies call her Bunny,” he said, never
looking at Slayde.

Slayde’s nostrils flared.

“Bunny,” Monkey boy snorted, “the name’s these
whore’s come up with.” He shook his head, chuckling, and Slayde’s
breathing grew faster.

Slayde hated to lose at anything. Cards, girls,
fights—even so—he threw his hand down, forfeiting his win.

The shaker whooped and threw his hand down a second
later. Slayde growled when he scooped up five large nuggets.
Winning what should have rightfully been his with a pathetic three
of a kind.

Slayde pushed away from the table.

Hunter shook his head. “Stay.” The word was a command
and not a request.

Slayde snarled. “I’m not doing anything here but
losing money. I’m finding a girl and hitting the hay. This is
bullsh—”

“You leave, we’ll never found out what we’re looking
for,” Hunter said with slow deliberation.

The shaker and the lawyer glanced between them and
Slayde wanted to throttle the bastard.

“What are ya looking for?” Shaker asked, rubbing the
nuggets over his front tooth with a pleased smile.

The muscle in his jaw ticked. He would have walked
off, snatched Sable and walked upstairs if it hadn’t been for the
fact that she glanced at him at that exact moment. She frowned and
shook her head.

It was enough to make him sit back down.

“My partner and I here,” Hunter nodded toward Slayde,
“heard about a thief called the Bandit.”

Slayde slouched, elbow on the table and chin on his
fist as his foot bounced.

“We’re aiming to do some panning tomorrow,” Hunter
gave a goofy chuckle and shrugged, fiddling with the tie at his
neck, “but you know...”

Against his will, he had to hand it to the boy scout.
Knowing Hunter the way he did, Slayde knew he was no buffoon. But
he played the roll to perfection.

The shaker laughed. “Don’t want to be nowhere the
thief is.” He winked.

“Exactly.” Hunter nodded.

Sable glanced at him again and worry gleamed in her
smoky eyes. He licked his teeth and shifted. Man she made him feel
like a loser, he knew, they all blamed him for failing the last
mission and expected him to screw this one up too.

He sat up. He’d show them he was capable of more than
being a hothead. He jerked his head towards Monkey boy. “You heard
anything about him?”

“First night here, I’m simply passing through. Docked
at the harbor for supplies before we head home tomorrow. Was hoping
to acquire a whore tonight.”

What was his deal with finding a bedmate? Desperation
to assert his manhood, maybe?