Chapter
Unhallowed Voyage
He saw the boat and all of a sudden it became real for him. He was already a lost boy so why did this terrify him. Maybe it was Little Joe's words. "You matter. You're worth it. My father's coming for you." He ached for that now. His breath picked up. He realized what was happening to him. He was starting to panic. If he got on that boat, he might not ever be seen again. "Hold out. He's coming for you."
"Fight." The voice stopped him. Who said that? It was coming from the men holding him. Why would they say that?
"Hold out." He heard Little Joe again.
"Fight. You must fight." That was not Little Joe. It wasn't the men either. Albeit, just as close. It was at his side. Following them as they went. A voice the men didn't know were there.
"Danny, fight." He recognized it. He'd know that voice anywhere. It was his brother's, Pete. He was here, in this world.
"Fight." Another voice coaxed. This one to his left.
"Pa." He muttered. He was here too. They were both here for him. His time had finally come. His heart leaped with elation. They were finally going to let him leave. They came to take him home. So why then were they telling him to fight? "No." He whimpered. Shaking his head back and forth.
"You've got to fight." Annabel said. Her voice was so sweet but dripping with urgency. They weren't here to take him home.
"I want to go home." Don't they know he's got nothing left?
"Fight." Pete said again. The boat was getting closer. He had to fight.
"Fight." The flame was lit within him.
"No." He dug his heels in and pushed against his captors.
"Come on." They dragged him forward, annoyed at his sudden insurrect. It did nothing. He was going to have to give more than that. Fight.
"NO!" He screamed out with avidity. He jumped up and kicked both feet at the guy on his right, falling back onto the guy to his left. He rolled away and scrambled out of their grasp. He stumbled onto his feet, hands bound in front of him and took off running back in the direction from which they'd come. The men were right behind him. Fortune smiled brightly upon him. Wouldn't you know, the first man he saw was wearing the uniform of a lawman. "Help me!" He shouted desperately. The young officer instantly on alert, opened wide to receive him. Danny ran straight into his arms for safe-keeping. The officer looked past to see the two men who were the subject of this man's plight. He drew his billy-club and held it at the ready. The men slowed to a quick pace.
"That's our friend there. He's drunk." Judging by the bruises that covered this man's face as well as his bandaged hand, told the officer otherwise. The kid wore a jacket over a bruised torso. "He needs to come with us." The officer held on. The men circled him like sharks circling their prey in open water, unaffected by the uniform he wore or the authority he held. He had no authority here. He wouldn't be able to fight these men alone. "We were just on our way to a party. Perhaps you'd like to come with us." Their threat wasn't coded very well but it was effective. The helpless sap gleamed into the lawman's eyes. He knew where he was headed.
"No. I would gentlemen, but I'm expected." They snickered at his cowardice. He couldn't help this man. His eyes spoke volumes. I'm sorry. "Take your friend home. Get him off the street."
"Of course officer." A tip of the hat and they pried the disconsolate from his arms. The man was filled with dread at his betrayal. He clung on staring at him, pleading with him to change his mind. Don't let me go. Don't let them take me. He had a hard time letting this man go. He knew the fate he would be facing but he had no choice. He couldn't save him. By trying he would be making himself a target. He thought being a policeman would be one of the most protected profession's for a boy like him who grew up with not much else to look forward to. He'd been wrong. He wouldn't be the first policeman to find a new occupation as a seaman. He most certainly wouldn't be the last. "Don't make yourself a target." He was told by his commanding officer. "You'll be fine." Don't make yourself a target.
"You're not getting me on that boat!" The young man yelled out as he was pulled away. The lawman turned his back on the struggling soul. He couldn't stand to bear witness.
"Stop fighting us."
"NO! I'm not getting on that boat. Help me! Somebody, help me!" He bellows. One blow to the center of his nose, flashes white and brings him to his knees. His hair is yanked back and he feels the knife against his neck. The blood pours down the back of his throat. He shakes violently.
"You're getting on that boat. One way or another. Even if we have to take you one piece at a time. You're getting on that boat." He knew this was an empty threat. They can't take him in pieces. They need him whole.
"No." He whimpers. They pull him forward. "No. Please." They ignore his pleas. That boat is getting closer.
"Don't get on that boat."
"Don't get on that boat." He hears the voices of his family in his head. He bucks back again. The one to his left almost loses him. Almost. He flounders about violently bucking and kicking, but they never lose their grip on him.
"Help me!" He shouts out, despairingly. Though he wasn't sure who he was shouting to. His family? Or some figure out there in the night. Some stranger he wished was there. If his cries could be heard, they were being ignored. "Please. Please somebody stop them." Another blow to center mass. And he goes down again. He's not going to stay down. He pushes back up and the blow comes in again but doesn't stop there. Another one comes in behind that one and another follows suit. He's down on his knees again. A blow from behind hitting mostly shoulders. He falls to the deck. A kick, another, back, gut, head.
"Stop!" He heard himself scream. All at once the blows did stop. His hair is pulled back again as he lies on the deck.
"I told you, you were getting on that boat one way or another." He puled. They dragged him again. Another blow came in just for good measure. He was asleep before he could enter the mass.
~.~
Stop there." A voice came from the group of men gathered on the other end of the bridge. Ben and Clancy stood now in the center. Their weapons had been left on the deck before they began to cross. "Who is this?" The speaker revealed himself by stepping out a few feet. The other's remained back hidden among their horses, and obscured in shadows.
"This is Morgan." Ben answered.
"The note said come alone."
"He's got special interest in the boy."
"Danny?"
"That's right."
"Is he law?"
"No."
"Family?"
"Not mine."
"It was a risk bringing him."
"He's Danny's family." Chapman mused then asked.
"Your boy's said you'd pay for the other boy too, is that true?"
"Do you still have him?"
"Answer the question."
"If you have him, I will pay for him too."
"How much?"
"All of it. All of what you're asking."
"Do you have the money to pay for them both?"
"I just got into the city. The banks are closed. It will take me some time to get it." Chapman's demeanor evinced one of uncertainty. "but I can get it." Ben assured.
Chapman took a shrewd breath. "Get it, Mr. Cartwright."
"If I get it, you will give me both boys?"
A glance back at the men waiting by the horses. "I'm afraid that can't be done." He says facing Ben and Clancy again. "You see, we don't have that other boy anymore."
"Where is he?" Ben asked. Clancy stared on diffidently.
"He's been sold. He's shipping out in the morning." They shanghaied him.
"I'm going to kill you." Clancy shouted apoplectically. Ben stilled him with an arm to the torso.
"Where? Where is he?"
"Ben, I can't tell you that." He wasn't going to get the answers he sought from this man. He took a breath and against Clancy's pining let Danny be.
"What about my son?"
"What about the money?"
"I have it."
"You just said you didn't."
"I said it'll take me some time to get the hundred thou. I have the fifty thou."
"Ben, I don't think you understand. We asked for fifty thousand when we weren't sure you were capable of getting more. Now that we know you can, the price for your son just went up. We'll take the whole hundred." Ben was enraged. This time it was Clancy who held Ben at bay.
He swallowed his anger. "Let me speak to him." The speaker nodded to the men in shadows. They pulled Joe from around a horse. His clothes had been torn like he'd been in some sort of a battle. His pant legs had been shredded and his right sleeve was completely gone. Though the skin underneath wasn't clean, it was intact. His shirt appeared weighted as if it were laden in something foreign. Disgorge, Ben deduced. His face was marred with a black eye. What was most concerning was the rope around his neck which hid behind it more bruises. The other end of the rope was tethered to the horse he'd just come from. His hands were bound behind him so he was incapable of removing his noose. Seeing his son like he was put a knot in Ben's throat and his worry bled through his eyes. These animals. He thought, though Little Joe seemed little fazed. "Are you alright son?" He asked when he gathered himself.
"They hurt him Pa! It's bad. You can't even imagine how bad. You got to get to him."
"I know son. I heard. We're trying. We're trying to get you both out."
"I'm fine, Pa. Don't worry about me. They're treating me well." His face said otherwise, but in comparison perhaps. "Get to him first. You've got to get him first. He'll die if you don't."
"We don't know where he is." At his pa's words, Little Joe eyed his captors, considering what he was about to do.
"Shinmoto, he's the one who paid for him." He blurted out before the punch came in to silence him and dropping him to his knees. Ben instinctually reached for the gun that wasn't there. It hurt him physically to see what they had done to his boy. Though the strike hobbled him, Joe felt a huge sense of empowerment for what he had done. The name was out there now and there was no taking it back. He said what he needed to.
"Ben. You can't save him now. It's too late for him. I'm sorry. I wish I knew how you felt about that little waif, but it's too late now. You try to go after him they'll kill him. The best thing to do is to forget he ever existed. Focus on your boy now Ben." Joe remained on his knees with his eyes clamped shut appearing bilious. It was apparent to Ben that the blow had a dire affect to the boy who was fighting a concussion. "Your boy needs saving." More than they knew. "Now are you going to get the money for him or not?"
"I'll get it."
"Or we could just kill him right here." He pulls Joe's hair back, cocks his pistol and places it within his curls.
Oh God! "I'll get it! Tomorrow morning when the banks open. I can get it then." Chapman stared cruelly. Dear God, get that gun off my boy. Ben prayed.
"Banks open at 9. We'll be in touch. Remember if you want your boy back you keep the law out of this. Oh and Ben, don't try to follow us. You keep your boys at bay too. This horse here is real sketchy like. One shot and she's off tryin to save her own skin. It won't matter if that shot's from us or somewhere in them trees." He nods to where his boys crept. "You better hope you're boys are smart enough not to try something stupid." There was a small stream that ran underneath the bridge. A rocky and uneven stream about ten feet wide and two feet deep. Though there had been talk of them sneaking to the other side they had decided that it would be too risky that they'd be caught. They had decided to stay within the trees and rush in only upon a signal from their pa which he had yet to give and he would only give it was feasible to make a rescue or if Little Joe became endangered. If they could see what Ben and Clancy could see, they'd be wise not to rush in. "If there's one inclination were being followed we're sending her running. You can't get to us before he dies. One shot Ben. One shot." He pushed the horse away which tugged on Little Joe's rope, forcing Joe onto his feet and sending him following. It pained Ben to see his boy like this. Physical hurt. So close to him, but he can't reach him. He watched his sweet, curly haired boy walk away.
Joe tried to glance behind at his father just to lock eyes one more time but it hurt too much with the angle and the horse urged him on. He missed his pa now and wanted to go home. What was it all for if he couldn't save Danny? He should have known they wouldn't let Danny go just because he let them take him. Deep down inside he did know it, all along. He was hoping he'd be able to find a way to save them both. He hadn't been able to. Now it was all for nothing.
~.~
"They're asking for a hundred thousand now." Clancy and Ben met the men in the trees aside the bridge. He wasn't sure how much they heard from where they were. They heard some. Pieces. The men of the posse gathered around.
"For both boy's?"
"No. They sold Danny. He's been shanghaied."
"What?"
"Bastards." Hoss exclaimed. "Why would they ask for 100,000 then?"
"Because Little Joe told them I was willing to pay for the boy too and I agreed. So now that they know I can get the money they want it all for the price of Little Joe." Hoss lowered his eyes guiltily, knowing he told them the same thing.
"What do you want to do Pa?" Adam asked. "You want to try and get the money?"
"Yeah, I think so. We won't be able to get it until tomorrow though. Banks don't open until nine."
Clancy interjected. "The man said that Danny's boat is leaving out tomorrow morning."
"Most boats will try and leave out at early dawn." Adam presented.
"It'll be too late for Danny then."
"I'm sorry Clancy. There must be a hundred ships docked right now. It's impossible to know which one he's on. How would we find him?" He asked, in a way that suggested it was impossible.
"I guess that's the end of the line for Danny." Clancy said regretfully.
"Little Joe gave me a name." Ben offered.
"He knows what boat he's on?" Adam asked perplexed.
"No. But he knows the name of the person who bought him?"
"Who?"
"Shinmoto."
"I think we better have a word with this Shinmoto feller." Hoss derived.
"How? About what? What would we say?" Adam asked.
"What der ya mean what about? About getting Danny back."
"First of all there'd be no way to get to a man like him. He's got to be protected."
"We've got ol' Jeb here on our side."
"Ol' Jeb who's got no jurisdiction in this city." The lawman spoke of himself. "No authority." He reminded.
"And even if we could speak to him, he'd never tell us which boat Danny is on." Adam added.
"So then we go in without him. I bet he'd talk with a pistol stuck under his chin." Hoss declared.
"Okay okay. Before we start talking about putting pistols under people's chins." Jeb interjected.
"Jeb's right, Hoss." Adam supported. "That wouldn't work. Shinmoto would face worse than that if he gave into those type of threats. His honor and status would be compromised. To him death would be better."
"That's right." His father agreed. "We'd have to offer him something."
"Money?"
"We could offer him ten times what he paid for Danny and it wouldn't be enough. His business is providing the crew needed to fill the boats. No amount of money is going to be worth keeping the boat docked because they couldn't make capacity."
"No. You're right. Money to him is inconsequential."
"Then we have nothing that he'd want."
"If you just let me finish." Jeb interjected. "We can find out what boat Danny's on without his help."
"How do we do that?" Adam asked.
"I said I had no jurisdiction. I didn't say I was completely helpless."
"So what do we do then?"
"We use the channels available to us." They waited for direction. "Let's go to the Maritime Shipping Office. They've got to have some information."
The posse went to follow the lawman and the Cartwright's dutifully. Ben could see how exhausted they were. Luckily Jeb picked up on it too.
"Hold up. I don't think we need to go charging in looking like an angry mob." He was right. "Why don't you guys head over to the Brown's Hotel, find yourselves some rooms and bed down. If we need you we'll come and get you." Ben pulled out his pocket book to dig in for some cash before ol' Jeb stopped him.
"Now now, that won't be necessary. This ones on the old State of Nevada." Under Jeb's hat was a written note with Roy's signature authorizing the posse. He handed it over to John Hinkly. "Just show this to the desk clerk. Tell her I'll be in there later to settle the bill."
"Thanks." They went to leave.
"Oh and uh, if you happen to get a few extra rooms for us, we'd be much obliged."
Hinkly smiled. "Will do Jeb."
~.~
Clancy and Jeb remained with the Cartwright's, Jeb leading the way. The office was on a second floor of a single roomed wooden shack. The stairs needing to get to it were right off the dock. A large man who looked like he's spent many years on the sea but soft now around the edges, sat at a desk facing the entryway. He was a couple of weeks without a good shave, filling in around his two inch long beard.
Jeb opened his jacket to expose his badge. "We're looking for someone. We believe he might be on one of the boats leaving out tomorrow."
After examining the badge the man responded. "You're not city police. This isn't your jurisdiction."
"This is public information." Jeb rebutted. The deskman sighed.
"Do you have a name?" He asked begrudgingly.
"Daniel O'Lewis. He scanned through a large leatherback book, looking through the most recent entries.
"No. I have no one here by that name."
"Could he have come in under a different name?"
"He could have."
"Could you check?"
"What am I supposed to check for?" Adam pursed his lips.
"Does the name Shinmoto sound familiar?" He finally asked.
"Should it?"
"We believe Danny has been shanghaied."
"Have you been to the police?"
"Not yet."
"Well it might behoove you. Don't you think?"
"Thanks."
"That guy was less than helpful." He said as the group walked out.
"Maybe he's right. We should go to the police."
~.~
Jeb showed the desk sergeant his badge. "We need to speak to your Captain."
"What's this about?"
"We come all the way from Virginia City tracking a missing boy."
"Take the seats over there." The greeter pointed to flimsy wooden chairs lining the wall by the entryway.
This was where they waited for their names to be called staring out onto the open floor. Every desk occupied with an officer and someone to complain to him. The city life sure was different then their small town sheriff's office.
"My son is missing." They couldn't help but listen in to the older lady before them. She was the loudest but it didn't help that she was also the closest to them. A young woman stood at her side, but she did none of the speaking. She held tightly to a small babe in her arms at times burying her head into him. The babe seemingly offering her more comfort than she was he.
"How long has he been missing for?"
"I don't know. He came out to find work. He was supposed to return home a week ago."
"If you ask me lady, I think he found it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"That means he's probably out on the waters somewhere headed for Tokyo."
"What? Like a sailor. My sons not a sailor though. He's a painter."
"In this city, every ones a sailor."
"My son would not have signed up for something like that. He's got a wife and baby."
"Listen, if your son was hanging about the Barbary Coast than he probably didn't have to sign up. Somebody probably did the signing for him."
"Just what are you implying?"
"Haven't you ever heard of Shanghai?" Her look was empty.
"Listen, if he was anywhere around the Barbary Coast he's probably been sold off to one of the merchant vessels."
"How do you know?"
"Look around you. Everyone in here is reporting someone missing."
"What do you intend to do about it?" He clamped his jaw tight, to bite his tongue.
"I'm doing it."
"Which is?"
"I take a report. If we come across anyone fitting the description of your missing boy, we'll hold him and contact you."
"That's all?"
"That's all we can do."
"That's not enough. This is America. This shouldn't be happening."
"Lady what do you expect from me?"
"You can search the ships. Tear them apart until you find all the missing boys."
"Not without a warrant we can't."
"How about putting more policemen on the docks. They could be there making sure it doesn't happen to begin with."
"Lady, we're tapped out as it is. We don't have enough officers to cover that area."
"Don't lady me. Don't you patronize me. Don't you do it. You have no idea what it's like to lose someone, do you? You can at least send who you do have. Boys are going missing right under your nose and you're not doing a darn thing to stop it."
He held his tongue as long as he could manage. "Do you know what happens to police men who go down there without adequate safeguard? Young men, men of honor, integrity? These men, who sign up to wear the badge to instill some law and order to this God forsaken place. Do you know what happens to them? They disappear. Right along with the rest of them. Sometimes they take two at a time. Sometimes more." She stood back aghast. "Does that surprise you? A pretty boy in uniform sniffing his nose where it doesn't belong. It's all the same to them. A body's a body. My men are disappearing from right under my nose. Don't tell me I don't know about loss. So no, I'm not sending them down there to be victims. I'm wising up and you oughtta to. Maybe you could help spread the word, stop sending your boys down here."
"Kelly!" The officer snapped from the doorway of a back office. The sergeant shrunk at his name, still holding on to bitterness.
~.~
"I apologize on behalf of my sergeant." He said to the group as he guided them in to his office at the back end of the station-house and closed the door, shutting off the chaos of the open floor. "This whole departments been on edge lately with the loss of a couple of our new officers. It just goes to show you, no one is safe in this city."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"You shouldn't have to know." He went to sit behind his desk but caught himself. "Forgive me. Where are my manners?" He rose to shake their hands. "I'm assistant Chief McFadden."
"I'm Jeb Clinton. This is Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Morgan and Cartwright's two son's Adam and Hoss."
"Nice to meet you." He cordially met each one. "Now, let's get to the reason you're here. How can I help you?"
"It's almost silly to say now. We'd like to report a missing boy."
"Nonsense. Every life is precious." He took out a sheet of paper and a fountain pen.
"How old is this boy?"
"19."
"You know whereabouts the boy went missing?"
"He disappeared off the Ponderosa."
"Ponderosa? Never heard of it."
"It's a ranch out in Nevada." He looked up a spell.
"You're a little far from home."
"His disappearance has already been reported to the local Sherriff. The boy was kidnapped from there and held for ransom." He was intrigued.
"What brings you out here?"
"We have reason to believe he's been sold."
"What makes you think that?"
"We were told as much."
"Well, if that's the case. You might have just lucked out."
"How do you mean?"
"Well pardon my saying, but if it's like you say, then that means the chances of getting him back alive just tripled."
"How do you mean?"
"It's like this, kidnapping ransom cases have about a 50 / 50 survival rate, whether they're paid up or not. If he's been sold to a merchant ship then chances are you'll get him back. It may take a little more time than you might have anticipated."
"How much time?"
"Usually within months but it's not unheard of to spend years away. In any case he's got a good chance of coming home when his tour is through." At their concern he consoled. "Look, I understand how bothersome it is to lose a loved one and I sympathize with you. I really do. Of course we want our loved ones returned to us as quickly as possible. We want to know they're okay. The sea life is a harsh one which is why you won't get too many people volunteering for it. But you do get volunteers. It's one that most boys overtime will adapt to and come to accept. They do their time and they shape up. The quicker they pretend they signed up for the job just like any other, the easier of a go they'll have at it."
"Unfortunately this one's starting off on the wrong foot."
"How do you mean?"
"We have reason to believe he's been beaten."
"How bad?"
"Horribly. We've been told that if we don't reach him tonight there's a good chance he won't make it." He dropped his pen on the table and leaned back.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He offered genuinely. "Sometimes is just about making numbers. Not everybody is going to make it to their destination. That's an unfortunate reality. They'll dump the boys that don't and pick up more when they get there. If it's as you say, he'll likely not be upon the returning numbers."
"Is there any way to stop this?"
"Unfortunately the resources to track this information is limited. We have no way of knowing what boat he's on and not every captain participates in this practice. Have you been to the Maritime Office of Records? There's a chance they could have used his real name to sign him on board."
"Yes. We just came from there."
"and?"
"No."
"We have a name if that helps."
"I'll take down a description." He picked up his pen again. "What is his name?"
"No, I meant we have a name of the person who bought him." He looked up through his furrowed brows.
"You know who bought him?"
"Shinmoto."
"Hold on." He pulls open a bottom drawer and his fingers meddle through files. He stops at one and pulls it from among the others. "Shinmoto is a kingpin that works for the Tong." He says as he fillet's the file over his desk and thumbs through it. "They are a powerful organization that supplies bodies to only one fleet." He stops on a page and reads down. "The Golden Bounty. They've got just under 20 ships. Generally they all run the same pattern." Though he was reading he didn't seem to be reading word for word. He was summarizing for them what was on that page. "Direct to China, then about four to five stops along the European coast, before making their way back here. The ships have been known to spend months at a time docked at each coast while replenishing their supplies. These are some of those ships I mentioned that take years to return.
"How many are here in the bay now?"
"I don't know. I don't have that information. The Maritime Office should know though."
"If we can get you the names of the boats he has docked here and their locations could you get a warrant to search them?" He let out a begrudging breath of air.
"To tell you the truth it'd be hard-pressed to find a judge willing to put his name onto something that'll stop the ships from running. Not if their looking for any sort of status in this town. Which in most cases are."
"Where does Shinmoto usually get his bodies from?"
"There's an inn called the Red Lotus. East of Leidesdorff."
"Could you give us an address?" He eyed them, knowing their intention. He didn't want to deal with the fall-out of any trouble they might cause, but secretly he hoped some good outcome could come out of these disappearances. If just one family could get their boy back where the law has failed them than it would be worth it. Without questions- it'd be better he not ask- he wrote in on a strip of paper and slid it over.
"Good luck. I hope you get him back."
"We're going to do everything within our power to do so."
"I hope you do. Godspeed."
The father and his sons get up to leave. Clancy got up but didn't readily follow them out. Instead wringing his fedora in hand, he took in the room. There were lost souls in front of every lawman. Families, fathers, weeping mothers and wives. Sisters. They all represented someone missing. A lost soul. More sitting waiting to be seen. More so to be heard. Reports written and filed. Added to the ever growing piles. It just seemed so wrong. This was state sanctioned kidnapping. Kidnapping for commerce on such a grand scale. Isn't that what slavery has always been about? Commerce. "Come on." Adam said again breaking him from his torpor.
"What's our next step?" Adam asked as the group stepped out into the night.
"We've got the name of the fleet now. That's something." Jeb said
"That's more than we had an hour ago, but that still don't tell us what boat he's on." Hoss said.
"We go back to the Maritime Office."
"We just came from there."
"Yeah, but now we've got the fleet name."
~.~
"You're back." He said as the group came in.
"We want you to tell us about the Golden Bounty fleet." Jeb said. The deskman eyed the group suspiciously.
"What do you want to know?"
"How many ships do they have docked?" Uncomfortably he opened his book and examined the contents within.
"It looks like they have 3 right now." The men got excited. That narrowed their search down significantly.
"What are their names?"
"Sun Beauty, Crescent Voyager and The Dancing Princess."
"When are they set to leave?"
"Sun Beauty is set to leave this morning 9 o'clock sharp. Crescent Voyager in three day's and The Dancing Princess is out of commission. Will be out for a month or so." That narrow's it to two.
"The two that are leaving. Where are they docked?"
"Sun Beauty is docked at Sacramento Street and Crescent Voyager is at Howison's Pier."
"Did Sun Beauty make its numbers?"
"I assume you mean seamen."
"That's right."
"Per last night's numbers they were still short. I won't receive the new count until o'seven."
"How many were they short?"
"About 8 or so."
"Thank you." The men went to leave.
"Could you look up just one more name for us?" Adam asked. The deskman eyed them before giving a subtle nod. "How about Cartwright? Joseph Cartwright." The men were taken back at the thought of Joseph's name being in that book. He scanned the pages for the name. It was a long shot, but plausible, if the men signed Danny under his name as a fit of irony.
"No. Don't have it." Adam gave a nod of acceptance and stood back resolute.
"Thank you." He tipped his hat and followed the men out the door.
~.~
They found their rooms to be humble but quaint. The posse were all away likely sleeping on a pillow by now but possibly somewhere drinking.
"We've got everything we need now. We know what boat he's on. I say we just go on and take him."
"If we know what boat he's on, then we can go back and get that warrant."
"You heard the assistant chief. It'd be hard pressed to get a judge to sign off on something like that."
"The law won't be able to help us."
"We're going to have to do this without them."
"Shouldn't we try?"
"And when we fail? What then? Do what we should have done all along? Only with the law at our backs now?"
"What should we do?"
"We've got the men we need. I say we get on that boat and take him. As long as they don't know it's us we can make a clean get away." Jeb cleared his throat nervously. Jeb felt uncomfortable with where this was headed. He broke in solemnly.
"Mr. Cartwright, may I have a word with you?" He came forward. "Whatever you're planning, I'm sure I shouldn't be hearing this." The men glanced about each other. "I can't be a part of this. I mean, I'd like to continue on with you, but I just don't have the authority to."
"We understand."
"That means I've got to take my men too."
"You're taking the posse?" Hoss asked incredulous.
"I have to. They was acting in accordance with the law. Well that's just not going to be the case anymore. If something were to happen to them, the law can't protect them."
"But we need them."
"No we don't." Adam cajoled.
"But Adam."
"Thanks Jeb, for going this far with us."
"Sure, Adam. I wish I could've done more."
"I know."
"Good luck out there."
"Yeah."
"Looks like we're on our own." Adam said when Jeb walked out.
"Sure would've been nice if he stuck around."
"We just have to figure this out for ourselves."
"Alright so we find the Sun Beauty and get him back."
"We believe he's on the Sun Beauty. We don't know for sure."
"But that feller said."
"He also said Crescent Voyager."
"But the Sun Beauty hadn't made capacity."
"As of last night. There's a chance they found their numbers. We won't know for sure until they get the count this morning."
"We can't wait 'til then."
"No we can't."
"How about we storm one and if he ain't there we storm the other." Hoss offered.
"If he's not on that boat he won't be on Sun Voyager either."
"What makes you think that? He's got to be on one of them."
"They won't risk keeping men locked up for days while they're loading the new shipments. They'll likely have a room to keep them until the final night. An empty storage room or cellar somewhere.
"Well how we ever going to find that?"
"We've got to get Shinmoto to tell us." Ben said.
"How do we do that? You said it already pa. We can't force him to tell us what he don't want to and we can't buy his help. How do we get it out of him?" Hoss asked.
"We got to ask him without asking him."
"What do ya mean?"
"He can't know we're looking. He can't suspect anything is wrong. If he does it'll be near impossible to break onto that boat."
"So what do we do?"
"We got to offer him something he will take."
"What's that?"
"What he wants are bodies?" Adam thought about what his father was saying and it gave him a chill. Clancy picked up on it to. He'd been off in the corner reflective. The boys weren't even sure he was aware of them with how far away he seemed to be. But he was listening and they knew it when he came over at Ben's words. "We've got to get a man on the inside."
"Like a spy." Hoss asked.
"No. Not a spy."
"I'll do it." Clancy declared resolute.
"Excuse me?" Ben asked. Hoss still wasn't sure just what it was Clancy was volunteering to do.
"I'll do it. You need someone to sell. I'll do it. You can sell me." It finally dawned on Hoss what it was they was talking about, but he still couldn't figure why that would even be an option. What good would that do? "You chain me up. Maybe hit me a few times so it looks real. Let him buy me. You stay behind and watch where he takes me. We can assume Danny will either be on the boat or wherever it is they take me."
"Clancy, I appreciate what your trying to do but it won't work." Adam refuted.
"Sure it will. It has to."
"It won't. Clancy. It won't work because you're not going to be someone he wants." He said indicating the cane in his hand.
Morgan waved it in the air. "I don't need this. I can fake it. You know I can."
"It's too risky. There's just too much at stake."
"This damned cane."
"It has to be me."
"You?" Hoss asked incredulous.
"I'm young. Healthy. Strong back, but still capable of being broken."
"What about me? I'm younger and stronger."
"Hoss, nobody's ever going to believe that we captured you." Hoss looked hurt and dripping with concern for his elder. "No. It has to be me." His father's dark eyes were deep set with concern. He didn't want to see another son in danger, but Adam was a man. He had faith in him that he could pull through this and if this meant they could save two boys. He didn't want him hurt but he was a man. These were boys.
"Okay, so wait a minute, let's say Danny is on the boat but they done made their numbers? What if they decide to keep you in the basement or wherever it is they got you until they can put you on that Crescent one? Then we're going to have to get him out and you. How we going to pull off something like that?
"Well, no matter what you hit the boat, whether I'm on it or not. I'll find a way to get myself out."
"You act like it'll be as easy as walking out of there when you get tired of being there. Adam, you forget, they keep grown men like you for a living. You may be tough but I think sometimes you overestimate yourself."
"I'll tell you what middle brother, you work on it from your end and I'll work on it from mine, we've got three days before they load me."
"We're messing with a deeply rooted organization." Ben stepped in. "If we hit Sun Beauty there's no telling how they'll react to that. I could imagine they're not going to take it too lightly. They'll probably be looking for revenge."
"How will they ever know who done it?"
"They'll look at their captives, who they had on that boat and who they still have and they'll also be looking at who they bought them from."
"That means both you and Joe would be in trouble.
"That also means that if you're not on that boat then we'll have to get you out pretty quick."
"We'll have to find Joe pretty quick too."
"Danny knows where they're keeping Little Joe."
"We can hope."
"He does. He's got to know. We find him, we find Little Joe."
"I wish we had more men. Then we'd be able to hit both spots at the same time. "Well we don't."
"The police won't help?"
"You heard them. Not without a warrant. If we get the boat and find men on it, it might make it a tad easier to get a warrant for the other places."
"It might be too late then."
"Yeah, It might be." Adam agreed.
"Hey, how about our men."
"What men?"
"The hands. They got to be somewhere in the city."
"Do you realize how big this city is? This ain't no Virginia City. We could spend all night looking for them and never find them."
"We ain't gotta check the entire city. Just the hotels."
"and the watering holes."
"They could be at a hotel bar."
"Or not."
"Even still, we find their name on a registry, it shouldn't take too much longer to hunt them down after that."
"He's right. That shouldn't take too long." Clancy agreed.
"It still might take longer than you think. That's if they're still in the city and not on their way back home."
"They gotta be here. If they weren't we would have passed them on the trail."
"We might have passed them out there and not even known it. That's big country out there. It'd be real easy for us to miss each other."
"Not if they kept to the trail."
"and if they didn't?"
"Daggunit Adam sometimes I think your nothing but a big naysayer."
"He's right Hoss." His pa exhorted. "It could be a futile attempt and we've wasted hours already going back and forth between the Maritime office and the Police. As it is, once we get Danny, we'd have to move real quick to get Joe."
"I just wish we had more men."
"Well we don't."