Intermezzo + The slave

Intermezzo

YAMAPI

Trust is a tricky thing. When you trust someone, there is always a chance to be betrayed. If you trust nobody else but yourself, you don´t have to be afraid of ending up disappointed and broken later. But you are always alone. When there is nobody to rely on, nobody to whom you can confide with all your troubles; when you can believe only your own instincts, decisions and opinions, no matter how many people are around, it is incredibly lonely.

Jin grew up from a child to teenager trusting no one else than himself. Not that there was nobody who might have the role of his confidant. There were his parents and his brother. Unfortunately, for each of them there was some ´but´.

He loved his mother, as much as you can love a woman who gave birth to you, but Jin had realized very soon that she was too weak to be his support. Erica Akanishi was too focused at fulfilling every single wish of her husband.

Then there was his younger brother and Jin was very fond of him. Though Leo was too small, only a child. He didn´t really understand what was going on with their family, so Jin couldn´t take him as someone to trust either. More like he had to protect the younger one from anything bad what he was only able to. Which was not exactly the easiest thing to do, and it happened too often that Jin failed in his role of an older brother.

Finally, there was his father. A surly and moody man, who got upset very easily and whose character was deformed by all failures in his life. Among those failures, Ben Akanishi also included his two sons. That Jin assumed after hundreds of times when he was beaten and locked up in the dark cellar, hungry, thirsty, scared and alone. Not even the words as ´trust´ or ´support´ could be connected with that person.

So, Jin had a family, but without being able to rely on any of its members, he was alone. It was sometimes painful and always difficult, but safer that way. He knew that there was no one who could have let him down and he didn´t believe that it could change anytime in the future. That was until the day he got to know that boy.

He was almost of the same age as Jin, with ruffled brown hair, with always grinning or pouting lips and cheerful eyes. It was shortly after they moved to Billings, when he had met Tomohisa Yamashita for the first time.

Jin´s dearest father started to earn enough money for him and Leo to attend the local school. It didn´t take long and both brothers became the target for various insults and sneers as some ´strange stupid immigrants´. But these scoffers also learnt that it was not very advisable to mess with Jin Akanishi.

Jin didn´t care about what they said about him, but he didn´t forgive anyone, who picked on his younger brother. He got involved in a few furious fights with his classmates, sometimes just because somebody laughed when Leo tripped over the crooked threshold and fell over. He had many problems because of his quick temper with their teacher, but Jin couldn´t care less, if it made their stupid classmates to shut up. Gradually, the others started to ignore them completely.

There was only one boy who was standing out. He was constantly disturbing their lessons with his never-ending crazy ideas as a frog on the teacher´s chair, or the tar on the pointer. Other classmates were laughing to these jokes, but at the same time, they were laughing at the boy.

He was a different kind of outsider than Jin and his brother. He came from a poor family, which was living only from what they grew. They had no additional money for anything, so the boy was always coming to school in the same worn out clothes with many holes and with the soil behind his nails. He was the favorite target for the city children, although the boy didn´t seem to mind that, as he had never lost his cheerful smile.

It was admirable, but Jin hadn´t actually noticed the boy, until he realized that without any clear reason he was being stalked by him almost everywhere. One day he couldn´t bear it anymore, and lashed out at him after the lessons...

*

Jin blocked the thin boy´s way out and pushed him back to the classroom, closing the door behind them. The voices of their classmates were slowly dying down, their teacher´s one first, as he surely rushed to his mistress. They remained alone in the empty classroom.

Jin was piercing the slightly smaller boy with dangerous look, but the other one didn´t seem scared at all.

"You!" Jin snapped out. "What´s your problem?"

The boy bulged eyes at him surprised.

"I have no problem," he said. "Well, not with you. I have tons of other problems, but..."

But Jin didn´t intend to let him blabber nonsenses: "Why do you keep following me then?!"

Then the boy stretched his lips in an honest smile: "Because I like you."

Jin stared at the smaller one dumbfounded. That boy was just weird…

*

That was what Jin simply assumed and didn´t bother with him anymore. Until they both ended up punished for something they didn´t do. Until Jin found out, that the boy´s younger sister was secretly in love with him and that was the first reason for Tomohisa to stalk him. Until they got lost in the woods without any food. Until they were beaten up by the group of cowboys…

Eventually, there was a moment, when Jin was willing to admit that his life was not that bad.

He and Tomohisa, whom Jin renamed to Yamapi quite soon, just because it was easier to say, they didn´t become only friends, they became inseparable. For the first time in his life, Jin had a real friend. And after some time even somebody whom he could trust.

He also got to know Yamapi´s family, which was so different from his. He felt more comfortable with them and more like at home, than in the house, which was owned by his own family.

The years passed and they turned into a little careless, but also quite serious and hard-working young men. Jin used to help Yamashita family on their fields, wanting nothing for that, but he never left without something to eat or drink. He kept going there despite his father´s disagreement and many arguments with him.

Apart from work, they had a lot of fun too. They used to ride in the forest and hunted, practiced shooting and fighting. They also liked girls and they went through tons of first experiences together.

But then... Then came a moment, when Jin had realized he was wrong thinking that his life was not that bad. He should have known that something was going to happen and spoil it again...

Still working for Raynold Karnaka, his father turned into a completely different and strange person, when Jin and Leo lost their mother. Jin was not at home, when that terrible accident happened, but Leo was. His younger brother, only fifteen years old that time, saw with his very eyes, as their drunken father beat the poor woman and then pushed her so roughly that she couldn´t keep on her feet. Her head was no match for their kitchen table made from the old oak…

The scene, which Jin had found, when he got home that day, was burnt into his memory. His mother´s body lying on the wooden flooring, her head bent in the scary angle and the pool of dark red blood under it. Leo was kneeling next to her crying. And that bastard, who called himself their father, sitting on the chair at the table, staring into nothing.

Jin quickly realized what had happened. If desperate Leo hadn´t stopped him back then, he would have beaten their old man to death. It was the first time Jin hit his father and the last time Ben Akanishi raised a hand against his son.

They had never seen their father as drunk as after the funeral. He was crying and begging for their forgiveness, which just made Jin sick. And he switched back into the same ugly asshole the other day, anyway.

When Ben Akanishi finally pointed a gun at his damn head and ended his own misery as well as the torture of Jin and Leo, who couldn´t bear to live with the murderer of their mother, it was a relief for both of them. Only after the old man was buried more than five feet under the ground, Jin was able to let himself feel the grief over the loss of their mother.

By that time, they had already been long out of school. Education was not exactly the most important thing they needed for their future. Fortunately, both brothers managed to find a job, as they didn´t want to rely on the money, which their father left behind. Especially Jin refused to touch them, and he persuaded Leo not to use them either.

Suddenly, they were on their own and it was not easy. Yamapi helped them a lot during that period and in the end, his family became to be as their own. That was why they got involved in the matter of the sale of their property…

Tomohisa´s father passed away not long before Karnaka´s proposal came at their doorstep, in the form of the sheriff from Billings and the letter from Karnaka himself. Yamapi refused. His family was poor, but the fields were their life and none of the remaining family members was willing to leave their home. Yamapi inherited it from his Dad; it was his responsibility, which he took quite seriously and Jin supported him in that fully.

They had no idea that Karnaka would not accept the rejection so easily. That he would not let the chance for the large stocks of kerosene oil to slip away from his long fingers. Maybe if they knew what one of his men found, they could have been prepared somehow for what was approaching.

From time to time, when he was sulking in depressing mood, Jin was really upset at his younger brother, because maybe, maybe only if he had remained in the city that time, they wouldn´t have condemned his best friend so easily. But the problem was Leo.

Not long after their father shot himself, Jin´s brother joined a certain infamous group, which called themselves Black Riders and became uncontrollable. It was the consequence of how strictly he was raised – when he finally had some freedom and he could do whatever he wanted, it ended up quite badly. Jin knew that partially it was his fault as well. He didn´t watch over the younger one properly and he let him slip away from the decent life.

After some not so serious issues, Leo got involved in a bank robbery and became a fugitive. Jin couldn´t let it go so easily, so he rode after him and his new companions, intending to persuade him to come back, to return the money and try to remedy for what he had committed.

As soon as Jin left Billings, Yamapi was accused of a murder. It was a set-up trap, when they got him drunk and then dragged to the already dead body of a whore from the local saloon. Jin found that out only thanks to another harlot, who was his favorite. He enjoyed her company and skills for a few times, but they were more like friends. She saw what really happened to her colleague, she saw some unknown men, who were probably Karnaka´s subordinates, to strangle her and she knew that Tomohisa didn´t kill the woman. But of course, nobody trusted the word of a whore, when there was Sheriff himself saying something else.

Jin returned to Billings after the furious argument with Leo, who refused to return and stayed with those crazy thieves instead. And he was already too late. He found his dearest friend hanging on the gallows, his body swinging slowly in the air…

*

This must be a nightmare...

That was what Jin thought, when his tired eyes focused at the horrifying scene in the middle of the wide main street. The big gallows made of dark wood was standing there, at the same place, where it was when he had left. At the same place, where it had always been, just with one significant difference. There was a slim body hanging down on the thick rope, the material dug into the neck of the dead man.

Jin saw an execution twice in his life. For the first time, it was when he was only ten years old. His mother was against it, but the father insisted on it to be a part of Jin´s growing up to the right man.

This was the third time he ever saw somebody formerly alive in that terrifying state, just hanging there in the air like a sheaf of straw, drying out and motionless. Therefore, it was not that he was shocked by the view. What froze him on the spot, stopping him from the movement toward the saloon, where he wanted to grab some beer for a drink after the tiring journey back to the town, was that he realized he knew that man.

Jin didn´t have to see his face, which was bent down in the cruel angle, but his feet led him to the gallows anyway. He didn´t fully comprehend the situation, even though he saw an almost blue face of his dear friend. Not even when he spotted two women, Yamapi´s mother and his younger sister, crying and hugging each other under the gallows.

It was somebody else who asked, what had happened there.

It was somebody else, who was yelled at by the young girl: "Why did you have to go after your stupid brother?!"

And it was somebody else, who was hugged by the older one: "My poor boy... Do you see what they did to him, Jin? My poor boy..."

It was the other Jin, that one who once believed that his life didn´t have to be a long line of bad things. He was the one, who realized, that deep inside he was never that naive, that he always knew everything would be screwed up again...

*

At first, Jin was not able to accept that shock at all. He almost got himself into the same position in which he had found his dear friend, when he attacked Sheriff Trent. He didn´t believe even for a second that Yamapi was guilty and his harlot-friend only confirmed it to him later.

Then there was another cruel moment. It was at Yamapi´s funeral, behind the cemetery wall, where his body was supposed to rest in the unconsecrated ground as an outcast unworthy of peaceful afterlife. Jin saw desperate Mrs. Yamashita crying and in that moment he had realized that his life not only sucked; it was a huge pile of stinking shit because of one man, whom he had never even saw.

Jin spent a lot of time searching for any available information about Raynold Karnaka. He talked with many people, some of them he needed to get drunk; with others, it was easy, as they cursed the man with many colorful expressions.

Adding all those stories to his and Yamapi´s one, he came to one surprisingly simple conclusion. When nobody else was able to stand against that heartless old bastard, he would. He swore to his friend´s grave that man would pay for everything he did. Jin swore to avenge and he was willing to do anything necessary to make a stop to ruining of innocent people´s lives. He swore to kill Raynold Karnaka no matter what it would take.

Only later, Jin realized that his focus on revenge, by which he directed his furious anger, helped him to overcome one of the worst periods in his life. Shortly one after another he lost his parents, brother and best friend. There was only one being to which he could trust.

Only Kuro remained for Jin; his faithful horse, which he bought on the market as the last foal not wanted by anyone, because it was ill. But Jin saw the strength in the animal´s eyes, despite it couldn´t move. He took him home and got him out of it. It happened to be the fastest and the most clever horse he had ever seen.

He had Kuro and his purpose – revenge. That gave him enough strength and energy for his determination to actually do something with that evil, which everybody else was afraid of. And Jin was prepared to do anything to achieve it...

Chapter 23 - The Slave

After the first hour, Jin thought it was not that bad and he could handle it somehow.

After two hours, he had to admit that Grenet was a creep, who definitely knew how to make someone suffer and he was keeping his mind busy with imaginations related to how he would return this ´favor´ back to the deputy.

After another hour, Jin was doing his best to keep quiet and not to respond on any of that bastard´s questions.

Sometimes between, he even doubted if his revenge for Yamapi was really worth of this, for which he was blaming himself right away.

In the middle of the night, or maybe it was in the morning, he wasn´t sure, because he was not exactly able to think properly, Jin wanted to die.

Pain. Darkness. Burning light. Coldness. Another pain followed by ruefully short darkness again.

He was craving for the arms of that comforting dark, because he didn´t have to listen to the Devil´s laugh in there. But it was a luxury, which was not allowed to him.

No sleep, no rest; just many faces of pain.

Somehow, Jin imagined the Hell to be like that.

***

The yew-tree wood was one of the hardest in the world. And despite that it was very complicated and expensive to acquire this material in the local area; the huge gate in front of Kame´s eyes was made exactly from this wood. It was the only visible entrance to the gardens, which were surrounding the white residence. Otherwise, there was an approximately eleven-foot-tall wooden wall around the whole property. Karnaka made sure that it would be very difficult for any intruder to overcome it, but Kame believed that it was not impossible.

With each yard, which passed under Ukushi´s feet, he had to try again and again to focus on the reasons, which brought him to this place and not on other things, as to who the owner of that mansion was. Kame had to stay calm and concentrated. In case that he would let emotions influence his behavior, he wouldn´t have been able to stop himself from doing something very stupid and that wouldn´t have helped Jin at all...

Now, he was almost completely sure, that the young gunslinger was captured at that rich farm. After Kuro had appeared in Bozeman all by himself, Kame went to the saloon to check up on the situation. Harada told him that he hadn´t seen Akanishi since the morning, when he had left with the group of Grenet´s men. The deputy himself didn´t appear either, while the most of his subordinates were in the taproom, throwing one tankard after another into their throats. But that didn´t mean anything and worried Kame had no solid base for his suspicion until the next morning.

It was in Franko´s Store, where he overheard one youngster, Danny McFly, who had started to work for the deputy only recently, blabbering something about the crazy horse, which was possessed by the Devil. Right after that he was scolded by another one of Grenet´s men, who hissed at him to shut up.

Kame still didn´t know what exactly happened with Jin, but he just felt he had to do something and quickly. Even though he couldn´t explain it, not even to his mother...

*

"So... You believe that your friend is being held at Karnaka´s farm against his will?"

A quiet voice of his mother raised the question a little doubtfully, but she just wanted to make sure she understood what her son was saying, not to doubt him.

Kame nodded slowly.

"And you want to help him to get out..." Rosie continued.

"Yes."

"Why? Why do you want to go against that man because of him, Kazuya?" the next question was very serious and revealed how many worries Kame awoke in his mother.

"He´s my friend, Mother. I cannot let him in the lurch."

"No," Rosie shook her head vigorously. "It´s not just that. You don´t know each other for such a long time, do you?"

Kame pressed his lips together, and avoided her sharp look.

"What exactly does he mean to you, Kazuya?" his mother asked after a few seconds of silence.

There was something in her voice, what made Kame look at her again.

"I just cannot let it go, Mum... He´s the only one, who is willing to go against Karnaka. The only one," he emphasized. "I want to help him. I will go there and you won´t change my decision."

Rosie was looking at her son for a while, with huge anxiety in her features, but she was also somewhat sad.

"What if they catch you?" she almost whispered then.

Kame was relieved that she didn´t comment the fact he avoided responding on her question. He was not prepared to discuss what he felt to the handsome gunslinger.

"They won´t," he stated firmly. "Believe me, Mother."

She wanted to say something more, she wanted to force him to stay, Kame could see it in her face, but she didn´t. She only sighed deeply in defeat, before speaking again.

"All right, but only under the two conditions. Promise me, you´ll be careful..."

Kame reached across the kitchen table and gently grasped her hands into his.

"I promise," he assured his mother firmly.

Rosie´s face brightened up a little with a weak smile, when she informed Kame about the second condition: "And also that you will introduce that Jin of yours to me properly. I want to know what kind of person captured the heart of my son."

*

Sometimes, Kame was almost shocked about how well his mother knew him and what she was able to see despite him not saying it. Her second condition was still echoing in his mind, as he realized only now that she wanted to comfort him with it. His mother believed this situation would end up well...

Rosie Kamenashi was the only person in the whole city, who knew the truth. For everybody else, who would have asked, her son wasn´t feeling well and he was lying in bed.

Kame knew that this excuse would not hold on for long and he needed to act fast. He faked a little scene in the saloon about being horribly sick, even though he felt guilty, when Harada sent him home to rest, and he disappeared from Bozeman right after lunch.

With each passed hour he was more and more worried and he couldn´t help but hurry more than it was probably necessary. Even though a very complicated mission was awaiting him and he should have prepared for it more carefully; he was being pushed by some indescribable feeling to rush.

In the late afternoon, he was there, in front of the strong gate, two suspicious glances piercing him through. Kame stopped Ukushi, when both guards raised their rifles against him threateningly.

"What do you want here?!" one of them yelled quite hostile.

"I just want to talk with your boss," Kame responded calmly.

Both men stared at him first, and then laughed scornfully.

"And who might you be that you think he will want to talk with you, baby boy?"

Kame gripped the bridle more tightly hearing that stupid nickname. His stomach shrank a little realizing that Grenet was probably present in the mansion as well.

"My name is Kamenashi. Just tell him that, I´m quite sure that he will accept my visit."

The guards looked at each other first, before returning their attention to him.

"Fine, but do not come back to us crying then. Get down, now," the order came.

Kame obeyed and dismounted Ukushi slowly. One of the men kept him at the gunpoint, while the other one came to him.

"Hands up," he hissed.

It was not a pleasant check, but Kame just clenched his teeth and let the man take the revolver from him.

"Clear," he stated after that.

"All right, I´ll go then. I´m looking forward to kick your ass out of here," the other guard informed Kame with an awful smile.

***

Something creaked.

That sound reached Jin´s mind through the thick mist, which was surrounding him as some heavy blanket. He was exhausted, but they didn´t let him sleep even for a minute during the past night. There was always somebody to poke into him, or to hit him waking his poor brain up again, when he started to fall into the black unconsciousness. Which happened a few times despite that he was forced to be in the position, which was not convenient for any sleep.

Somehow, Jin realized that his exhaustion was the cause of that strange mist. He had absolutely no idea what time it was, or for how long he had been Grenet´s favorite toy...

But that sound of creaking... What was that?

Almost immediately, he regretted that he even started to think about it. The blanket disappeared quickly and freed up the space for pain. Suddenly, his whole body was burning in flames and no matter how hard Jin tried, he couldn´t escape them. There was something stuck in his nostrils, what didn´t let him breathe properly, as well as the odd weight in his chest.

There was a short creak again.

Ah, right, it´s the barn´s door.

That sound meant next and certainly in some way new pain.

Shit...

Jin tried to open his eyes, but it was as if his eyelids were made from lead. He managed to do it only after he received a cold slap all across his face. Snorting and sputtering he realized it was the bucket of cold water. He had already met with that tinny friend more times than he could even remember.

His eyelids got up, the vision got clearer, but it was still blurry. His arms also reminded themselves to him – by unpleasant pins and needles before they got completely silent again, as if they were not even there.

Jin remembered that he was tied with a strong rope to one of the beams, which held the roof above his head, with the shoulders twisted in the most uncomfortable way he could ever imagine. It was stretching his body so high, that he was touching the dirty floor only with the fingertips of his bare feet.

"Good afternoon, greenhorn," he heard.

Jin was still able to assign the voice to the figure in front of him immediately, despite his bad condition. He wanted to say something not exactly polite, but there was a strange taste in his mouth, which almost made him vomit instead.

It was the blood, his own blood. He coughed some of it out and his whole body shook.

He felt cold. No wonder, when he was almost naked in some smelly barn with the holes in all walls. However, at the same time he felt the hot burning in his stomach and on some parts of his skin, which was not lessened by the cold air even a little.

"You´re very uncooperative, Akanishi," Math Grenet stated.

Jin smelled the smoke of his usual cigarette and noticed a small hint of anger and discontent in his voice. That was good; he didn´t want to do anything to make that fucker happy.

"So, I think we should try something new... To proceed on the next level, what do you say?"

Jin was looking at his tormentor from under his swollen eyelids, trying to remember, what Grenet and his damn stooges already did to him, so that he would know what to expect.

Grenet was quite creative in this field; beating him up, burning his skin with the cigarettes first, then with the metal rod, drowning his head in the ugly bucket, beating him again almost to unconsciousness, tearing his nails out one after another, cutting into the parts of his skin, which were not burnt yet... The last thing Jin remembered was Grenet´s fist breaking his nose... That was probably why he couldn´t breathe and why his mouth was full of blood.

So, what is left? Breaking the bones? Cutting off fingers? Just great...

Jin was talking to himself in his mind in this cynical manner, because it was the only way how he was able to hold on, and not to fall apart into pieces.

He tried to speak again, but his throat was parched as the prairie after the very hot season. He stuck out his tongue carefully and tried to lick his dry lips, but it didn´t help much. Did they let him drink at all?

Oh, yes, that female slave was here, the one with the basket...

A memory appeared in his blurry mind. She was ordered to give him a few gulps of water. Not that Grenet cared about his health, he just didn´t need him to die, not yet. He needed information, but Jin didn´t plan to give him any...

Remembering the slave, Jin had remembered also something else. Who knew, if she did what he asked her for yesterday, when he was still able to think. They were alone in the barn just for a second and he used it, as the speaking wasn´t such a problem yet. He could only hope in her gratitude, when he had helped her before. It was a risk; she might have betrayed him, but there was nothing else he could do to warn Kame...

"Thirsty?" Grenet asked mockingly. "First you have to deserve some drink, greenhorn."

Jin didn´t let the man, who had already caused him so much pain, out of his sight and didn´t react. The deputy came a little closer and breathed the smoke out right into his face. It also smelt like a lot of whiskey; Grenet was obviously tipsy.

"You know, I was thinking, while my boys kept you company this morning."

Jin was quite surprised that man was even able of such a difficult thing as the thinking was.

"I remembered that hunt of yours; that bear you came to show off with," Grenet kept talking and moved out of Jin´s sight, walking around him. "I know the local woods and I´m quite sure, that you found that animal on the redskins' territory. It´s the most probable option, at least. And it´s very interesting, that you had no problems with them because of it."

That bastard´s voice was right next to Jin´s ear now. He felt him behind like the helpless victim feels a predator sniffing around.

"And there´s other thing too – I think that somebody helped you with the hunt. You´re a good shooter, but you aren´t that good," Grenet hissed, moved again and returned in front of Jin, with the cigarette almost done.

Jin didn´t avoid his look, but still didn´t say anything.

"My boss thinks that you might have an accomplice in the city and now I think the same. So... I was wondering..."

Grenet doused the cigarette butt on Jin´s chest without any warning. He hissed out in pain, which made his thinking a little clearer again.

"Who would be that stupid to help you out with revenge against Raynold Karnaka?" Grenet lit up the next smelly thing and then pierced Jin with his eyes. "Bozeman is not that big and there´re not many people causing unnecessary troubles, you know…"

From the very beginning, Jin had a bad feeling about that monologue. Next Grenet´s statement unfortunately confirmed his suspicion.

"It seems to me that only one little shit fits for your friend – our baby boy Kamenashi."

Jin shook from head to toes hearing that bastard saying Kame´s name. Grenet was watching him very closely for a while.

"He could also negotiate with those cocky Indians for you in that case. He fucking loves them or what," the deputy continued.

Jin kept his lips firmly closed, trying not to reveal his worries. Grenet drew of the cigarette in a long inhalation.

"Well, it doesn´t matter if you admit it or not," he said. "This Kame-boy gets on my nerves for a while anyway. Since you´re so stubborn, I´ll try it with him. He may be more talkative than you. Especially after the last little conversation we had," Grenet laughed shortly, as if he remembered something. "Fucking his pretty ass may help out, too. You can watch, greenhorn, it will be fun. Last time we were interrupted, unfortunately," Jin´s tormentor finished the shocking talk with a false regret.

So that was it... That was why... Kazuya... He was so shaken...

Just the idea of that disgusting bastard touching Kame in a way he had just mentioned, made Jin almost forget about pain. He was completely conscious now. The burning anger and hate towards Grenet was so strong, that for a moment Jin felt like he was able to rip off the rope, which was holding him, and strangle that piece of shit to death by his bare hands.

"You... Are... Disgusting..." Jin made the words come out, despite his throat was still aching from all the screaming.

The deputy laughed again: "Ah, don´t say..."

"Keep your... stupid ideas... for yourself..." it was difficult to keep talking, but his anger gave Jin the strength. He had to try to distract Grenet out of this lead at least. "I´ve already... told you... I was... alone."

"Really? So far you haven´t said a thing, shithead," Grenet reacted smirking.

"If you want to... humiliate someone... I´m right... here, you fucking... coward," Jin´s jaw hurt at each word, but he still said them clearly. "Kamenashi has nothing... to do with this."

"Sorry, but you´re not my type," Grenet grinned awfully. "But you´re pretty talkative all of the sudden. So... You say you were alone?"

"Yes... You idiot..."

"No help from anyone?" the smoking man continued asking.

It was already over the edge for Jin and he couldn´t prevent his anger from coming out.

"Go fuck yourself."

The deputy smiled widely: "You don´t have to care then. You stay here in your awesome dormitory and I´ll go to have some fun with Kamenashi... Just to make sure you´re not lying, you understand that, right?"

Jin´s breath squeezed in his lungs and instead of anger, the horrible fear gripped his heart into a tight pinch.

Oh no... I just did exactly what Grenet expected. By denying his assumptions, I confirmed them.

"Son of a bitch," he hissed out desperately. "You´ll burn... in Hell..."

Grenet approached Jin again, flooding his face with that awful smell: "Not before you, greenhorn..."

A hard hit into the already aching stomach stole Jin from any breath he could use for the response.

***

Kame was waiting in front of the closed door nervously. He was inside the white mansion, alone, as Ukushi was left outside at the side of the house. It didn´t take too long and he was led there, by the strange servant, who came for him once the annoyed guards let him enter the grounds. That man told him to wait and disappeared behind the door, which probably led into the room, where the lord of the mansion was.

Kame looked around the whole property very carefully, when they led him from the gate to the front entrance, but except a few black slaves and more guards then was necessary, he saw nothing suspicious. There was no sign of Jin, but they could hide him on many places – in the cellar, the barn or the stalls... Unfortunately, it was unlikely Kame would have any chance to search them.

The door opened again and the servant invited him in. Kame took a deep breath and on not completely steady feet, he entered the huge workroom. As he had expected, there was an old man sitting in the comfortable armchair, watching his arrival with the cold eyes.

Kame approached closer very slowly and remained standing just eight feet from the old man. He had already seen Raynold Karnaka once, in Bozeman, but there was still that tense feeling inside of him, knowing that he was the man responsible for the deaths of his father and brothers. Not to mention, he even knew that Karnaka was responsible for destroying Jin´s life as well...

"What an unexpected visitor," Karnaka stated in an almost amused tone.

Kame was not able to respond right away. It felt as if he went mute. He felt his hands shaking a little, the head spinning. This man, exactly this man and everything what he did… What was he? A reincarnation of the Devil himself?

The eyes of the man in front of him got even colder, when he didn´t receive any reply from his side and then he spoke again.

"Kazuya Kamenashi, right?"

Kame finally reminded himself in what a dangerous situation both he and Jin were and that he came to the farm to do something about it.

"Yes, sir," he nodded; even though his stomach was making somersaults from disgust, he was determined to remain polite.

"Why did you come to me, boy?"

Boy...

Kame was almost sure he would vomit right at the expensive carpet. The men like Karnaka and Grenet were always able to make him feel like that…

"I have a request, sir."

"You have a request on me?" Karnaka raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. I would like to ask you, if there´s anything I can do to improve the current relations between you and my family."

"What exactly do you mean, Kamenashi?" Karnaka seemed interested.

"Just recently, your subordinate Math Grenet reminded me very clearly, that I and my mother are under an obligation to you... And I assure you we respect that. We don´t want to cause you any problems, sir."

"I´m glad to hear that directly from you," Karnaka responded with a strange shine in his eyes.

"Thank you, sir. But... I´m sure you´re well aware of a problem, which Math Grenet has with myself."

Karnaka kept his look on Kame, which didn´t let him move even by inch.

"I was informed, of course," the man said, his voice very serious.

Kame took a little shaky breath again.

"I know I made a mistake, sir. I will be more careful about my behavior from now on, so... Would it be possible for you to talk with Grenet? I cannot help but say that he picked on me, and I´m able to handle it, but it influences my mother too. She is sick, sir, and I just want her to be at peace, if you understand."

Karnaka didn´t say anything. Kame was trying hard to keep up his calmness and not to give in to the fear, which had started to grow in his stomach. At that moment, he felt exactly as he wanted to affect the people around – naive.

"If there is anything with which I can persuade you, that we don´t mean to create problems and what would, pardon me, get Grenet out of my back, just tell me. Anything."

"Anything, you say?" Karnaka repeated.

"Yes, sir. My mother is my only family; I would do anything for her. We just want to live our lives..."

It took three long seconds before the old man reacted on Kame´s statement.

"Let´s say that I know Math is somehow hot-headed... And let´s say I believe you, boy... So... If I make sure that you will not have any other problems with him, and your mother will be completely out of harm, would you be willing to work for me?"

Kame´s eyes widened in shock. He expected being thrown out, even beaten up, but definitely not being offered a job...

"Well, that´s kind of unexpected offer, sir..." he replied carefully.

"I understand. But I´ve heard you have quite good relations with the local Indians. And I have to say that I would use a negotiator between me and them quite well."

Kame felt hot and cold at the same time. This was unreal. Karnaka offering him a job like this? If he would be in this position, it could profit the Blackfeet Tribe too. He would have been able to help them; he could have stopped that pointless killing... But then, Kame forced himself to stop the crazy flow of own thoughts.

No. No, I must not believe these words.

It would have been stupid to think that Karnaka was willing to negotiate with Indians; that he wanted to be at peace with them. He was just trying to figure out how Kame would react. Now he realized fully, how dangerous man Karnaka was.

"Thank you for your generous offer, Mr. Karnaka," Kame said, when he was sure about his voice again. "Can I ask for some time to think? I already have a job at Harada´s Saloon and so..."

"All right," Karnaka nodded surprisingly willingly. "But don´t think too long, boy..." he added in a voice, which brought the ice cold creeps on Kame´s back.

*

"What do you think, Cam?" Raynold raised the question to his loyal subordinate, after he came back to the workroom.

The servant took his time with the response: "I must say, I´m not completely sure, sir. His attitude and reasons are understandable. And it was a good idea to offer him a job. We will see if he´s serious or not. But..."

"But something is not right," Karnaka finished the sentence.

"Yes, sir," Cameron agreed. "Why did he come only now?"

"Well, I´m sure we will find out soon... Strengthen the guards for the night, just in case."

*

Kame left the residence in a quite distracted state.

The conversation between him and Karnaka didn´t went in a way he had imagined. If that man was telling the truth, it was opening the way for his mother to live peacefully, for him without fear from Grenet and maybe even the peace for the Blackfeet Tribe. But only if the powerful rancher had been telling the truth...

Kame had a strong feeling he just couldn´t trust Karnaka in anything. It was not thinkable that he would have started working for him; he was not as strong as Jin, he just couldn´t act that much. His knees were still shaking and his palms hurt from how much he was clenching his fists. He would not have been able to do something like that

Kame looked around after he went down the veranda. There were some guards nearby, but they didn´t pay him much attention, as he was accompanied by Karnaka´s servant to the door and there were no orders for anyone to escort him out. But he couldn´t afford to act suspiciously, so he just headed to the place where he had left Ukushi, searching the surroundings with his eyes. Shaking down the cold feeling from the meeting with Karnaka, he felt the worries for Jin again.

He wanted to get to Karnaka´s farm for one main reason. Not to talk about the amnesty for him and his mother, as he didn´t really think anything like that was possible, but to see the lands and try to figure out how to get there unseen, so that he could search for Jin...

Kame took the corner and he could already see patiently waiting Ukushi, when the barn in the back part of the gardens caught his attention again. There were the two men with rifles in front of it. He didn´t look at it properly before, but now, when he saw the building again, how old it was and that it was unlikely they would have hold something precious inside, but those guards were still there...

What could they possibly guard? He also noticed that there was a small back gate approximately one hundred meters away from it. In the end, there was not only one way in...

Kame reached Ukushi and started to untie her, thinking hard. According to what he had seen so far, it was the most probable place for them to... His hands stopped in the middle of movement, when his ears caught a faint sound of screaming.

He looked in the direction of that barn again, and noticed how the guards glanced at each other, shaking their heads and saying something.

The scream of pain was heard again, from a young man´s throat... Kame felt chills on his back and his throat closed tightly.

Jin...

He was frozen at the spot. That sound was far away, but it pierced his heart with throbbing pain anyway. It took Kame a while before he noticed someone was watching him. It was a young black slave with her eyes wide standing behind the wall, which was covering some compost or something like that. The guards from the barn couldn´t see her like this, but she was close enough to Kame. And there was something that attracted Kame´s attention, even though he was distracted by the screaming. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she was hesitating.

He checked his back quickly, but so far, there were no other guards looking for him. Only the guards at the barn had a clear view at him, so he pretended to tighten up the saddle.

"You don´t have to be afraid of me," Kame said looking at the woman.

The black slave breathed in quickly and her eyelashes shook a few times. Kame thought that she would run away, but she spoke in the end.

"Are you Kamenashi?" she asked whispering.

That surprised him.

"Yes, I am... How do you know?"

"I heard guards..." the woman replied, her eyes flying from one side to another, like she was afraid that somebody would appear and beat her up.

"What´s your name then?" Kame asked, trying to calm her down a little.

The slave´s eyes went even wider; she was completely shocked by the question.

"I... I am Ella."

"That´s a nice name, "Kame said, smiled at her and checked the guarding men again. They didn´t seem to notice anything yet. "Do you want to tell me something, Ella?"

The woman seemed more certain by now.

"Yes," she nodded quickly. "I have a message for you..."

Kame jerked with his head back to her and almost forgot to keep his voice quiet: "From whom?"

"There´s a man captured," she responded.

"Jin?" Kame blurted out immediately. "Jin Akanishi?"

The slave nodded a few times, but she seemed scared again, seeing Kame´s fierce reaction. There was no time for fear now. The guards would definitely come to check what took him so long.

Kame untied Ukushi´s bridle and led her closer to the woman.

"What did he say? Tell me, quickly!" he asked her urgently.

It looked that the woman would back off from her original intention, shaking her head vigorously.

"If they find out..."

"Please, Ella, he´s my friend. What did he say?" Kame repeated, already desperate.

"He said: Don´t come for me," she responded finally.

Kame froze up once again, flooded with pity.

Oh, Jin... Jin, what are you thinking?

"Ella, where is he?"

"I can´t... I can´t..." the slave blabbered frightened.

"Kamenashi! Where are you?!" a loud call came from behind the building. The guards had noticed something was strange, so they had no time left and Kame decided to put everything at one bet.

"Ella. I will come for him, tonight. You can go with us, if you want."

The woman seemed like to be struck with the lightning.

"Please, I´m begging you..." Kame didn´t know what overcame the fear in the slave, but there was probably something what finally persuaded her.

"The barn," she confirmed Kame´s suspicion.

"Thank you... Can you make any distraction? At the midnight?"

She took a deep breath in and didn´t said anything.

"We will take you with us, I have friends, you don´t have to stay here!" Kame insisted. "Midnight, Ella, go to the back gate then."

Kame turned away from the woman just in time, when the guard came out behind the corner.

"What the hell are you doing here? Take that nag of yours and get out!"

It was one of the most difficult things in his life, to leave that faint screaming and scared slave behind his back and leave Karnaka´s residence. But he had to do it. Hearing Jin´s pain was tearing Kame´s heart into pieces, but there was no way he could save him right away.

Kame rode off the gate fast, without looking back. There was already a plan in his head, but it depended on that slave, if she would help or not. In either case, he would try to rescue Jin on that very night. He felt that he couldn´t leave him there any longer.

He didn´t even have to order Ukushi and she sped up herself on the road toward the woods where he had left Kuro hidden well.

***

Ned Roper was one-third African American, or rather, following the local manners, from one-third Negro, and he had been working for Raynold Karnaka more than ten years. Thanks to his origin, he could never achieve any higher position than a mere guard, but even in this job, he had seen and done many terrible things for which his mother would have not been proud of him. Sometimes, he even thought about quitting and returning to his family in the east, but he was stuck only with imaginations. He was still staying there, at that rich farm. It was a well-paid job, anyway.

Remembering all those killed men and tortured slaves, what Grenet was doing with that youngster was even more awful. The deputy hadn´t done anything what would have threatened Akanishi´s life seriously, but all those hits and cuts had to hurt like hell. There was something about it what made Ned sick – their prisoner didn´t say a thing and Math Grenet seemed to be almost happy about it. He enjoyed torturing that poor boy more than Ned thought was even possible.

Well, that was before he got a little upset because he was not able to get any useful information out of that guy. And when Ned spotted Grenet going there again, with the bottle of cheap whiskey in his hand, he was glad he didn´t have to watch that horrific performance this time. He had already seen more than enough…

Ned was guarding the mansion´s entrance then and watched that bartender boy with his very pretty mare leaving through the front gate. His colleague was shouting out some stupid insults before, but he had absolutely no sense for horses. Ned wondered curiously, where the young man might have got a horse like that.

Kamenashi was really an unexpected visit. Ned knew about the history with his family and he had to admit that this boy had guts...

Not long after the bartender disappeared from his view, Grenet appeared in front of the house, coming back from the barn. As he came closer, Ned noticed that his face was covered with the bloody splatters and he kept drinking on the way. Well, it was obviously not the best time to interrupt him, but Ned knew what his job was.

"Boss?" he spoke, when the second highest person in charge on the property stomped up the stairs.

"What?!" Grenet snapped. There was a dangerous shining in his eyes, and despite that almost insane expression, he seemed strangely satisfied. Ned had to force himself not to step away from the man.

"I think you should know about this... Mr. Karnaka just had a visitor. That youngster Kamenashi was here."

Math was standing there staring at Ned for a while, before his narrow lips curved in the ugly smile.

"Don´t say... What did he want?"

"I don´t know, boss," Ned admitted carefully.

"Never mind, it doesn´t really matter. So he decided to pay a visit here just now," Grenet laughed and took a gulp from the bottle again. "I so knew I was right..."

"Should we go after him, boss? He left only a few minutes ago."

"No, I will find that little fucker myself. But I want you to get something for me. It seems that our greenhorn still hasn´t got enough."

"Of course, boss. What is it?" Ned asked, but he didn´t like the expression on Grenet´s face, which told him, it would not be anything nice...