Read Claimed (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #4) for Free Online Page B

ride your bicycle, and I figure if the men saw you big people coming up on them, they’d be more worried about you than me.”
    “How far away is their camp?” Cedar asked.
    “Not far. Upriver a mile, maybe. I don’t think they know anyone knows where they’re staying, but I saw them walking around when I was out checking on my traps and followed them. They didn’t see me. I’m quick and quiet.”
    Cedar decided not to mention that he’d had little trouble spotting her. Kali was already getting to her feet and waving for the girl to follow her back to the creek. “Let’s take a ride, and maybe you can point us toward this hideout.”
    Cedar told himself that nothing would likely come of this side trip—even if the girl had chanced across a hideout being used by some of Cudgel’s men, it wasn’t likely the men were still there—but he couldn’t help but think of the what-ifs. What if the men were there? What if they could be convinced to lead him to Cudgel? What if Cudgel himself was out here on Bonanza Creek? Could that explain why he hadn’t been able to find him in town?
    “Easy, fella,” he muttered to himself. “Don’t get distracted or excited. One thing at a time.”
    Mary trotted up to tug at Kali’s sleeve. “That man is talking to himself,” she whispered.
    “Yes, he talks to his weapons too. It’s part of his charm.”

Part III
    T he SAB rolled to a stop at the base of a slope so steep that only the stunted trees growing out of cracks in the rocks made Cedar hesitate to call it a cliff. Water trickled down the mossy incline and formed a clear pool beneath it. The bicycle had been following a faint trail through the woods, but it ended at the watering hole.
    “That’s as far as we can go without defying gravity,” Kali announced.
    Mary was hanging on behind her, while Cedar had been relegated to jogging after the vehicle and inhaling its sooty exhaust. He was about to check for tracks on either side of the pool, but the girl pointed up the rocky hillside.
    “That’s where they’re staying.”
    “In bedrolls dangling from those trees?” Kali asked.
    “No, see that crack up there? They disappeared into it. It must be a cave because both of them went up there and didn’t come out again.”
    Cedar decided to check for tracks anyway. He wanted evidence to validate this story before he clambered up a cliff.
    Mary slid off the SAB and peered into the woods around them, then up at the crack. “Is it all right if I go now? I’m not sure if... I mean, I’m not afraid of them, but I wouldn’t want them to hurt my brothers or sister if they found out I’d helped you. That’s all.”
    This was the first instance of tentativeness from the girl, and Cedar eyed her again, still suspicious that this might all be some tall tale. Maybe she wanted to run off so he and Kali couldn’t catch up with her after slipping off the steep slope and falling onto their butts. He reminded himself that she had known about Cudgel’s distinctive boots. That wasn’t something someone could have guessed to embellish on. It hinted to truth about the rest of her story as well.
    Kali raised her eyebrows at him before responding to the girl.
    “There are some recent boot prints here.” Cedar pointed to the leaf litter around the pool. “We’ll check it out.”
    “You can go.” Kali patted Mary on the back. “Thanks for the help.”
    The girl darted down the path, her hand to her head to keep the cap from flying off.
    “Let’s be careful,” Kali said when they were alone.
    “That’s always my aim.” Cedar knelt to examine the prints more closely, trying to determine if people had climbed the rocks or if there might be another route they had taken after reaching the pool. “Any particular reason you’re concerned?”
    “Her hands were digging into my hips like crab pincers,” Kali said. “She was scared on my bicycle, and did you see her face when we approached it? She looked like she thought it