Chapter 21
Although their journey was one of revenge, Blade still took the time to enjoy the in-between parts.
It wasn’t every day that a person got to travel around the country, and there was so much to see.
They had reached Nebraska, and he couldn’t deny that it was a beautiful place.
There were great plains everywhere, rolling hills, and striking rock formations.
Dakota seemed awed by its beauty, too, and if they were there under different circumstances, Blade would have suggested that they stay a while.
Their destination was North Platte, with the next person on their list being Mason Lee.
Deciding that it was best to look for Mason as early as possible so that they could make a daylight escape again, they set up camp for the night on a hill overlooking the town.
From there, they could see the outline of buildings, and when night fell and darkness surrounded them, small lights shone in the distance.
It was common for folks to leave lanterns or candles burning in their windows, and it seemed like the whole of North Platte did just that.
Margaret never left a light on in the window, but his parents always had.
The memory brought a smile to his face. If Blade separated all the memories of his family before the massacre from the actual event, he could think of them without getting angry.
It was rare, but sometimes he managed to get it right.
“It looks so peaceful from here,” Dakota said from beside him. “It’s almost a shame that people like Mason Lee live there.”
“It’s a shame that people like him exist,” Blade replied. “But let’s not think about him tonight.”
“What do you want to think about then?” Dakota asked, raising a brow.
Blade shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel strangely relaxed, so happy things?”
“Happy things,” Dakota replied with a laugh.
“What’s so funny about that?”
Dakota continued to laugh as she shook her head. “You’re not exactly Mister Happy.”
It was true. Blade had been consumed by the idea of revenge for the last seven years. “I like to be happy,” he pointed out. “I just haven’t had many opportunities.”
Dakota’s expression changed as she shifted her position so that she was looking at him and not the town. “That’s actually really sad, but I get it. It’s been rough.”
“Don’t,” Blade warned her playfully. “No being sad or serious tonight.”
“Well, okay.” Dakota held her hands up in mock exaggeration. She was rather dramatic when she wanted to be. “If you are so insistent on talking about happy things, why don’t you start?”
Blade had to really think about it. He didn’t have all that many happy memories. He had some from before he lost his family, but he was so young, and over time, those memories had faded, no matter how hard he had tried to hang on to them.
He could only think of three things that really made him happy.
The first one was seeing Millie happy. It didn’t happen often, but seeing her smile or laugh silently warmed his heart.
The second thing that gave him some sort of joy was catching criminals.
It was a different kind of happiness, but it always left him feeling somewhat at ease.
He was aware that he could never catch all the evil people in the world, but knowing that there was one less bandit on the streets helped.
The third thing that made him happy was Dakota. Regardless of the situation, he always felt most like himself when he was with her, and most of his happiest memories included her. Blade stared into the dancing fire, trying to come up with something to say.
“Climbing the pear trees on the ranch,” Blade blurted out as the memory popped into his mind. It was something he and Dakota had always done.
Dakota’s face lit up. “Oh, that is fun,” she agreed.
“Target practicing,” Blade added after a moment. “And going for long rides in the mountains.”
Dakota’s eyes found his. “Seems like we have the same idea of things that make us happy.”
Blade’s heart sped up, and he took a deep breath to calm himself.
“I know I’ve asked you this before and you said you didn’t know, but you must have thought about it,” she continued, looking down at her hands. “What are your plans for when this is over? Are you really going to be a deputy, or is there something else you’re considering?”
Blade wasn’t sure how to answer. Of course, he had thought about it, but he still didn’t know. He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I mean, I’ve always been so focused on revenge that I didn’t really care much about what came after.”
“I understand what you mean,” Dakota said, turning to look at the town again. “I think this mission has been the focus of our lives for what feels like forever. It is strange to think about what will happen when it’s over.”
“It is,” Blade agreed. “I’ve always had this mission to keep me focused.
I spent my life training for it and looking forward to it.
” Blade shook his head, trying to come up with the right words.
“I’m actually worried that I might get restless once it is over.
I think I’ll have to find something to focus on, a project of sorts. ”
“That might work, but you also have to figure out a way to be happy without something to keep you occupied.”
Blade frowned playfully. “How exactly will I do that?”
“I have no idea,” Dakota said with a shrug. “We’re both going to have to figure it out.”
“We’ll do it together, just like we’ve always done everything else.”
Dakota smiled at that, and Blade’s heart sped up some more.
***
Walking down the road, Blade scanned the area, searching for Mason Lee, but he was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t a very big town, and they had ridden through it a couple of times, gone into every store, and were now walking on foot.
“What do we do?” Dakota asked.
Blade didn’t want to ask around, but it seemed like they didn’t have a choice. “I’ll go speak to the barkeeper at the saloon.”
“I don’t like that idea.”
“Do you have a better one?”
Dakota shook her head. “Unfortunately not, just be careful, okay?”
“Always am,” Blade lied, causing Dakota to raise a brow. She didn’t say anything, though.
Dakota waited outside the saloon while Blade headed inside.
It was early afternoon, so the place wasn’t busy.
There were a few men playing poker at the back.
They didn’t even look up when he entered.
Besides them, there was only a young man drinking by himself and another older one slumped over a table.
He clearly had too much to drink, but that wasn’t Blade’s problem.
“What can I get you?” the barkeep asked.
Blade had never drunk alcohol before, but felt like he had to buy something. The barkeeper was a tall, balding man, and he did not look friendly at all. Blade needed answers and figured buttering him up a little couldn’t hurt.
“Do you sell full bottles?” he asked, figuring that some alcohol could come in handy along the way. It was a good disinfectant for wounds, after all.
“You want to buy a bottle?” The man looked skeptical.
Blade nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’ve got a lot of whiskey. I can sell you one of them,” the barkeeper offered.
“Perfect,” Blade agreed.
The barkeeper disappeared into the back room and returned with a bottle in hand. He placed it on the counter in front of Blade, still looking confused, but not as uptight as before.
Blade pulled his wallet out of his pants pocket and paid the man. He’d never bought alcohol before, but that didn’t mean he didn’t notice that the barkeeper had overcharged him. It didn’t matter.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m not from around here,” Blade stated. “Came all the way from North Dakota to deliver a message.”
That got the barkeeper’s attention. “A message?” the man asked, raising a brow.
“My father passed away recently, and he left some items in his will to an old friend of his, Mason Lee. I’ve looked all over town, but I can’t find him.”
“Mason’s a good man,” the barkeeper stated.
Yeah right. Good at murdering people and destroying lives, Blade thought, but didn’t say as much. “You know where I can find him?”
“I know where he lives,” the barkeeper replied, “but that’s not gonna help you. He was in here just the other day. Said he was going out of town for a while.”
“Oh, I wish I had known that before I came.” Blade took the bottle of whiskey and turned to the door. “Can you give me directions to his place anyway? Maybe I can leave him a note, tell him to come see me when he returns.”
“You got something to write with?”
“I do,” Blade confirmed.
The barkeeper nodded and then quickly told Blade how to get to Mason’s house.
Dakota eyed the bottle in his hand as he approached her. “What’s that for?”
He shrugged. “I had to be nice to the barkeeper to get information, and now we have this.” Blade packed the bottle into one of his bags and mounted Africa. “Mason isn’t in town, but I know where he lives. You want to go snoop around and see what we can find?”
“I do enjoy snooping,” Dakota replied with a chuckle. “So why not?”
Finding Mason’s house wasn’t difficult, and they quickly found a way inside through a window that wasn’t closed properly. Blade didn’t want to stay there long, but he was hoping to find something that would tell them where Mason had gone.
“You look in the kitchen and living room,” Blade instructed. “I’ll go check the bedrooms.”
Unlike bandits, Blade didn’t make a mess of the place; in fact, he left everything exactly as it was.
The house only had two bedrooms, and there wasn’t much to see in them.
It literally took him five minutes to search through the cupboards, bedside tables, desks, and under the bed.
He wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find, but the place looked almost empty.
“Find anything?” he asked, returning to the living space.
Dakota shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Makes two of us. What do you say we get out of here?”