Chapter Ten:

D was unfazed by this show of force. Still as a statue upon his stallion, he addressed the man before him.

"I am D. I was contracted to bring this child, Abigail, here to her father. It was her mother's dying wish. Now, allow me to fulfill my contract. Stand aside."

A ballsy move, Kat thought, her eyes darting back and forth between the man with the gun and the vampire hunter, still stoically seated upon his mount. The man eyed D and sucked his teeth once. He raised his weapon, just a hair, and Kat pulled Abigail closer to her.

"You're a dhampire," the man stated.

It was rare that the men chosen for vigilante committees were both strong and intelligent. Kat found herself wishing that that would change at least once, in all these villages. D inclined his head in the barest of nods.

"Yes. Now, will you stand aside and grant my group passage?"

The man eyed Kat and Abigail a bit before sneering at D.

"How do I know that what you're telling me is the truth, hunter? How do I know that you haven't just stolen this child as an excuse to enter our town—the safest town on the Frontier, by the way—and feed to your heart's content?"

Kat rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm no dhampire. I'll vouch for his story. We just want to bring this girl to her father."

The man laughed and scoffed at her. "Like I could believe you any more than him? You could just be his chosen whore."

She moved to urge her horse forward, ready to kick the man right in his stupid face, when D held up a hand to stop her. She growled under her breath, Abigail fussed in her arms, and the man chuckled.

"That's right. Keep your woman under control, hunter."

"This child is the daughter of Eliza Dawes. Does that name sound familiar to you?" D asked, ultimately ignoring him.

"Can't say as it does. But, if she was foolish enough to leave, then she got what she deserved."

Many would have missed it; the move was so subtle. But Kat, having traveled all this way with D, caught it immediately. The way his left hand slowly tightened around the reins of his horse was the only telltale sign of any growing annoyance within him. The dhampire cast his eyes toward the stone walls of the town. The other members of the vigilante squad, apparently growing impatient with the way things were progressing, had abandoned their posts. Kat had a feeling that things were going to go south, and fast.

"This wall… it's meant to keep people in, not trouble out, isn't it?" D asked.

The man's grip on his gun tightened as his fellows approached. He narrowed his beady eyes on D.

"None of your damn business. We make this town safe!"

"At what cost?" Kat all but whispered.

"Leave, or face the consequences, dhampire," the man yelled.

Now all the other members of the committee raised their weapons. D shook his head. Kat pulled her horse so that it backed up behind D's.

"I only wish to reunite this child with her father. Stand aside and no one will be harmed."

The committee all laughed at that, and they all cocked their guns. Kat made a small groan under her breath. All the weapons were pointed at D. In one moment, there was nothing but this standoff, no one moved. In the next, D had leapt off his horse, his sword pulled free, and he was descending on the men. Shots were fired, all of them toward D and none toward Kat and Abigail—which she suspected was a deliberate choice made by D, to draw their fire. Streaks of silver danced out in arcs, and guns fell to the ground in pieces. This was followed by a string of hateful words directed at the dhampire, and then the sound of someone choking on their own blood. Kat had Abigail turned away from the carnage, hiding the girl's face in her chest.

The last man fell, and D wiped his blade clean. He sheathed his sword and mounted his horse, spurring it to a slow walk forward. Kat spurred hers to follow. They arrived at the gates—huge, well-made wooden ones. D dismounted once more, approached them, and seemed to grip them as best his could. Then, with barely a grunt—maybe only a single grunt—he worked one side of them open. Kat's eyes doubled as she watched him work, realizing that she had really been taking his strength for granted this entire trip.

"I'd hate to see what you could do to a man with your bare hands," she commented.

D, as usual, didn't reply. He urged his horse inside. Once they were both inside the town, Kat was surprised to see that they met no more resistance. In fact, save for a really old man waiting just a few feet away from the door, everyone else moved as if nothing had occurred just outside their town's gates. D approached the old man, who grinned up at him, his wrinkles deepening as he did so.

"I'm Mayor Hillside," the old-timer said by way of greeting. "I must apologize for those men's behavior. As you can see, I'm no spring chicken. Used to be, I could keep my vigilante committees in line. But… not so. Not so. That particular group decided to run this town with violence. But, ah, enough of that. Tell me, what brings you to Korinth, hunter?"

D motioned to Abigail, who Kat gently turned about to face the old mayor. "I've come to bring Abigail Dawes to her father. Her mother, Eliza, contracted me to do so with her dying breath. Could you direct us to him?"

The old man scratched at the thin, white hair atop his head with his left hand, while he leaned heavily on the cane in his right. He shook his head.

"Memory's not what it used to be either. Our town's grown quite a bit since my first term as mayor. Used to be, I knew everyone. But, once we found all that ore in the mountain over yonder, our town just sort of blew up. Land of opportunity, we called it. So, no… can't say I recall the name. But, feel free to ask. Try our general store. Lady Bri is pretty good about knowing who's who around here. And, again, thank you, for taking care of that rotten committee."

The mayor tipped an imaginary hat at them, turned, and hobbled off. Kat stared at D.

"That was weird. You're sure she said Korinth, right?"

D spared her only a glance before urging his horse forward. Kat, as always, followed. They received a few stares as they went down main street, but none that lingered for too long. The people of this town seemed… cowed. Which, given the committee that was apparently running things, wasn't too much of a surprise. The group made their way to the general store with no trouble, both dismounting from their horses. Kat hugged Abigail close as they made their way inside the shadowed building.

"Well, as I live and breathe! How in the hell did a dhampire get inside Korinth?" came a bright, too-loud voice from the back end of the store.

A woman, dressed in plain slacks and a plain white tunic—but whose bright blonde hair was curled and pulled expertly atop her head, and with make-up looked like someone who was ready to put on a show in a tavern at any moment—emerged from the back, a curious smile on her pink-painted lips.

"We're looking for the husband of Eliza Dawes," D said without preamble. "We're here to return his daughter to him."

The woman's eyes turned so large that it looked like they were going to pop out of her head. She stared, open-mouthed, at Kat and Abigail for a long, long moment, during which Kat was starting to feel like she was under some kind of examination. She jerked a thumb back toward the town's entrance.

"Also, D kind of took care of that vigilante committee that you all had," she explained.

The woman blinked, turning her stare to D. "Well, Lord be. I'm Lady Bri and let me shake your hand. Those ruffians were passing 'laws' every other day that weren't good for nobody but them."

She stuck a hand out, her nails a shade of pink to match her lips, and sharp enough to count as weapons. D made no move to grasp her hand, instead repeating, "Eliza Dawes's husband?"

Lady Bri clucked her tongue sadly, retracting her hand and shaking her head. Kat was amazed to see that none of her tight curls moved as she did this.

"Bad news on that front, I'm afraid. I told dear Eliza not to leave. I told her that Korinth may be bad, but other places were worse. But her and Michael… they dreamed of a better life than what this town could offer. She's dead, then, I take it?"

D nodded. Bri clucked her tongue again.

"Poor babe's an orphan then, I'm afraid."

Kat gasped. "What?"

Lady Bri shrugged. "A tunnel within the mine where Michael worked collapsed. A few of our town's menfolk perished… Michael Dawes was one of them. Happened not long after he sent Eliza off to make some money and get settled somewhere else."

Kat stared at D. D, for his part, showed no emotion. There was a long moment of silence. Then, Lady Bri sighed.

"I can direct you to their home. Michael built it himself, you know. All of his possessions—and those of Eliza's she couldn't take with her—are there. No one will mind if you take… if you take little Abby there."

She wrote some simple directions down on a scrap of paper and handed them to D. She offered a small, sad smile in Abigail's direction, and they exited the store. Kat felt as if she had tried and failed to swallow a rock that was now lodged in her throat. They didn't bother to mount their horses, instead leading them slowly through the town's dusty streets until they reached a small plot of land, with a single log cabin upon it. In the distance, they could easily see the entrance of the mines, and Kat frowned in its direction. D stepped to the door of the cabin and tried the doorknob. After a moment, and a hard twist, the door opened. D entered, and Kat followed after, holding Abigail close.

The home was small, but well-built. It had only three separate rooms from the one they stepped into—two bedrooms and a bathroom. The room they were in served as a common room and a kitchen/dining area. It was quaint and cozy, and all of Eliza and Michael's worldly possessions were still sitting around, as if they had just stepped out. Only a thin layer of dust betrayed the passage of time. D took a few careful steps inside, and Abigail cooed and laughed. Kat felt as if she might dissolve into tears at any moment.

"Now what?" that weird voice asked.

Kat had long since stopped trying to make sense of it. Now, she resolved to act as if there were three, grown, people in the vicinity.

"We came to do a job and get paid. And now, like I said would happen, there's no payment. So… what are you doing to do, dhampire?" the weird voice continued.

Kat turned to face D, whose face was its usual impassive state, like a statue carved from pure marble. Abigail grasped onto Kat, bouncing a bit in the woman's hold.

"We'll have to leave the child with the town's orphanage," he said, his eyes turned away from Kat and Abigail.

Kat felt her hair stand on end. She shifted Abigail to her left hip and took a single step toward the hunter, whose back was fully to her now.

"Like hell you will! Look, I know my town was pretty nice by comparison to others. I mean, yeah, the vigilante squad were a bunch of sticklers, but they weren't abusive of their power. My mistake was mine. But the one thing that's been pretty universal between all these towns? The damn orphanages! There's no way of knowing what monster will take her from there… or what monsters run the place! Sex slavery, child labor… and that's the lighter stuff! Look, when my parents died, I was lucky. My brother was willing to have me, to save me from those places, because let me tell you… those damn lechers were already sniffing around me. I remember one of the administrators from our orphanage telling me that my red hair would 'get me a lot of real good attention.' We know this kid, D. We've traveled with her. She knows us. We can't do that to her."

D, still without turning, responded, "My life is too dangerous for a child. You've seen what's happened in just a matter of days."

Kat pursed her lips, turning her head to stare at the child. Abigail grinned up at her. Kat felt like she lost her breath for a moment. Then, she whipped her head around.

"Then I'll keep her!"

"What?" squawked the weird voice.

"I'll keep her! Look, I know enough about kids to keep her clean, fed, and alive. I mean, I've got no cash… but I can work! I'll find work. But I'm not going to let this little girl suffer just because fate is a giant jackass."

At this, the dhampire turned. Kat was taken aback to see a bright smile on his face, and she was sure she wasn't going to be breathing again anytime soon. It was both unsettling to see him smile, at the same time as it was the most beautiful thing Kat had ever seen.

"No gambling?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. Look, I never figured myself for motherhood… maybe I'll suck at it. But I've gone my whole life with people to look out for me. Maybe that was so… maybe so I could take a turn looking out for someone else who needs it."

D nodded once, the smile fading away. "You've found your path."

He moved over to the small dining table between the kitchen and the common room and pulled a small sack from his belt.

"You've got to be freakin' kidding me," the weird voice muttered as D set the whole sack down—the sound of several coins jingling inside.

Kat's eyes widened. She had only ever seen the dhampire use gold coins. He turned back to her.

"Use it to get started, but carefully. Guard yourself and this. And talk to the general store owner… I feel like that may come of something."

He moved past her, heading for the door. Kat called to him.

"D!" she said. He paused, and she added, "Thank you."

He gave no reaction, simply exiting the house—her and Abigail's home.

#

"You're as nutty as they come, dhampire, you know that?" Left Hand said as D mounted his black stallion. "This must be the only damn job where we paid someone else for us to complete it! What's gotten into you?"

D dug his heels into his horse, putting the animal at a little over a trot. "Sometimes, all we need is kindness. We forget that, from time to time."

"No, I don't buy it. What's this really about?" Left Hand fell silent for a moment—truly a miracle—before making a tsking noise. "I don't believe it. This is about her, isn't it? It's about Min—"

He gripped his reins, cutting off the name Left Hand was about to speak. When he relaxed his hold, he was already exiting the town. Left Hand chuckled.

"You think if someone had done something like that for you, then—"

"Then it might have been different," D finished.

Left Hand sighed. "Well, as it stands, we're thousands of dollars in gold coins short now! Hope your sense of paying forward is done. Because that shit is expensive."

D couldn't help it. He smiled.

fin