Moe Jedd... Part Four: Onto The Grayspeak Trail.

 

She sat down and removed her tall flat brimmed hat, resting it on the table, followed by her long black coat, she was adorned in a black cotton blouse and trousers with knee-high riding boots and strapped with one navy colt hanging on each hip.  Moe took notice of her immediately, she had long flaming red hair that fell well past her shoulders, electric blue eyes that seemed to take in everything all at once, was tall, fit and seemed to brim with a confidence usually not found in a woman of the time. It stuck him that perhaps they were looking at the mysterious tracker that had been following the seven, but it wasn't until she rose from the chair and approached their table that his suspicions were confirmed.

"You Moe Jedd?" She asked.

He nodded to the affirmative.

"The same Moe Jedd that hunted the harvesters across the Desolation Sands beneath Flaggs Peak, and rode with a man called Preacher?"

He leaned back in his chair and eyed her carefully and again nodded.

"You ever come across a cavalry captain named Alexander Grimm?" She asked.

"Rode scout with the 6th cavalry, That Captain Grimm?"

she nodded.

"He was my father, Preacher is my uncle, may I sit with you?"

He nodded to an empty chair.

"My name is Scarlett Grimm, these things that you've been tracking, they first showed up on the Oregon trail three weeks ago. Preacher came across them after you and he separated in Vertigo Washington, He showed up at Fort Walling and tried to warn my father, they led a detachment to investigate near Tardswood the Seven killed the whole lot of them, including my father, only then they had another on their tail, he was just like them, when I caught up with them, I found Preacher wounded but alive, took him to the nearest doctor, he gave me a direction and told me he would catch up when he was well enough."

Moe sat up straight, now interested.

"Preacher is here?" Moe asked.

"He was behind me, at least four days back, that's who I thought you might be until I saw the three of you ride into Dryhorn, I believe, the Seven are headed to a place called Northwind bay, on the other side of the mountains, Preacher says they're looking for a particular soul, lost, someone who came to earth ahead of them.  Preacher thinks they're hunting for dark souls, like the harvesters you and him killed in the Desolation Sands. and I think he's right about them being Harvesters. I took out the one that was riding at the rear of their column with a headshot, dropped him instantly. I got close a couple of times, but never caught up with the other seven."

Mordecai sat up straight, and cast a concerned looked at Moe Jedd and then at Scarlett.

"Northwind Bay is a coastal city, why would they be heading there?" He asked.

Moe Jedd had the waitress bring a bottle of whiskey, and he considered Mordecai's question carefully as he poured them all a glass. His eyes slowly raised to me, Mordecai's.

"Because maybe the one soul they're looking for isn't here, maybe they need to look somewhere else."

Scarlett offered her own theory.

"Well, unless they head due north after they reach the coast, they're going to run out of land. Fort Ashford is due north of there, maybe they are headed there." She said.

Moe raised the whiskey glass to his lips and took a drink.

"Maybe what they're looking for is across the water, maybe they're going to Northwind Bay to get a boat." He said.

The hostess brought them a pot of lamb stew and bread with an extra bowl for Scarlett at Moe's request, they dined in mostly silence, each lost in their own thoughts, none of them noticing the lone figure on horseback passing by the large bay window in the street outside. They finished their meal and Moe paid the hostess. As they stepped out into the street, a strange fog seemed to roll in, and it carried with it an eerie cold, The kind that could freeze a man to the bone, and make him forget who he was. Down the wooden plank sidewalk, the door of the Jacob Fander's trading post swung open, and a lone figure stepped out and loaded down with some supplies and began to load them into the saddlebags of an appaloosa tethered in front of the trading post. Moe smiled at the sight of the animal, as he walked up behind the lone figure.

"You're a bit far from home, ain't you, stranger?" He asked.

Preacher turned on his heels as he heard that familiar voice, the two old friends shook hands, and Moe filled him in on everything that they knew about The Seven, in which direction they were headed, and then Preacher agreed to ride with them as they picked up the trail. Mordecai knew of a way they could close distance on the seven quickly, if they went through a path along the Grayspeak trail where the towering trees kept the snow from socking in the trail leading through the thick woodlands. As they followed the winding trail, they quickly put Dryhorn behind them, moving cautiously, single file onto the path, they could gain ground quickly. They turned due north, the snow below the treeline was fairly sparse, everything around them drew quiet, and three hours into the ride, Moe held the team up as he slid down from his animal. There was movement a full two hundred and fifty yards below them. They were above the seven.

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