had to say.’
Jack nodded, his hand straying up to brush his top pocket.
‘You know that.’
‘I don’t.’
Jack smiled and extracted the pack of cards from his top pocket. He held them out.
‘Present your options, then ask the cards.’
Hannah glared at the cards, then shook her head.
‘No. I want to know what you want, not what a random card says.’
‘If you want to know me,’ Jack said, turning the pack over in his hand, ‘you’ll take a card.’
Jack thrust the cards out, then fanned them.
‘All right.’ Hannah took a deep breath. ‘A non-face card says I stay with you. A two-eyed card says Ileave. Are those good choices?’
‘Yup. The most likely card has to be what you want to do.’
‘If it’s a one-eyed card …’ Hannah glanced away.
‘Go on. The one-eyed card has to be the unthinkable .’
Hannah nodded, then turned back to meet Jack’s gaze.
‘A one-eyed card says you’ll kill me.’
Jack grinned, his one eye bright. ‘You understand. Now, ask the cards what you have to do.’
Hannah reached for the pack. With her hand shaking with the slightest of tremors, she withdrew a card.
With the card lying flat on her palm, she stared at the card’s back, trying to anticipate her fate before she saw it.
Then she closed her eyes and swung the card over. She cracked her eyes open and glanced at the card, then, sighing deeply, looked up at Jack.
Jack was staring deep into her eyes.
‘And?’ he whispered.
‘Two of spades,’ she said.
‘I know.’ He smiled. ‘You were fated to stay.’
CHAPTER 10
When Strang emerged from the powder magazine, he took Armstrong aside and grunted a few words to him. Then Armstrong led Gideon to the stable, which was opposite the gate. On the ground before the stable, Jack’s men had set out a row of blankets.
Gideon laid out his own blanket, but with that task complete, Armstrong left him to do as he pleased. None of Jack’s other men paid him anything but the most cursory attention.
From the few muttered comments he did receive, Gideon decided that everyone had accepted he was Hannah’s brother. And, as Gideon didn’t want to risk saying something that might disagree with any story Hannah was telling Jack, he didn’t dare initiate any conversation. So instead, he occupied his time by sauntering around the fort.
The compound was in a sorry state of disrepair. Only two buildings were complete and sturdy: the powder magazine at the side of the parade ground and the officers’ quarters beside the gate. These buildings were both stone. The ramshackle stablestill stood, but only because the back wall was the stockade and it supported the structure.
The collapsed remains of at least three other timber buildings were dotted around the parade ground, but whether they’d collapsed from lack of use or from the fort’s activities, Gideon couldn’t tell for sure. But as the wooden stockade around the complex and the raised look-out platform five feet from the top were just about continuous, Gideon guessed that the fort was in use right up until it had been abandoned.
At the back of the powder magazine, a ten-foot length of the stockade had collapsed. Through it, he saw earthworks consisting of a ditch and raised earth, which provided defence on the non-river side of the fort. The forest was beyond. Aside from the gate, this appeared to be the only way in and out of the fort.
Two of Jack’s men steadily patrolled the raised platform. They stopped to chat and glance outside over the occasional shortened logs but their patrol traced a route that frequently passed the collapsed length of stockade. From this observation, Gideon reckoned that Jack believed this was the fort’s greatest weakness.
As he didn’t want to draw too much attention to his interest in the fort’s surroundings and the guards’ procedures, Gideon returned to sit in the parade ground and watch the other men bustle around him.
He saw no sign of the gold that these men
Jack nodded, his hand straying up to brush his top pocket.
‘You know that.’
‘I don’t.’
Jack smiled and extracted the pack of cards from his top pocket. He held them out.
‘Present your options, then ask the cards.’
Hannah glared at the cards, then shook her head.
‘No. I want to know what you want, not what a random card says.’
‘If you want to know me,’ Jack said, turning the pack over in his hand, ‘you’ll take a card.’
Jack thrust the cards out, then fanned them.
‘All right.’ Hannah took a deep breath. ‘A non-face card says I stay with you. A two-eyed card says Ileave. Are those good choices?’
‘Yup. The most likely card has to be what you want to do.’
‘If it’s a one-eyed card …’ Hannah glanced away.
‘Go on. The one-eyed card has to be the unthinkable .’
Hannah nodded, then turned back to meet Jack’s gaze.
‘A one-eyed card says you’ll kill me.’
Jack grinned, his one eye bright. ‘You understand. Now, ask the cards what you have to do.’
Hannah reached for the pack. With her hand shaking with the slightest of tremors, she withdrew a card.
With the card lying flat on her palm, she stared at the card’s back, trying to anticipate her fate before she saw it.
Then she closed her eyes and swung the card over. She cracked her eyes open and glanced at the card, then, sighing deeply, looked up at Jack.
Jack was staring deep into her eyes.
‘And?’ he whispered.
‘Two of spades,’ she said.
‘I know.’ He smiled. ‘You were fated to stay.’
CHAPTER 10
When Strang emerged from the powder magazine, he took Armstrong aside and grunted a few words to him. Then Armstrong led Gideon to the stable, which was opposite the gate. On the ground before the stable, Jack’s men had set out a row of blankets.
Gideon laid out his own blanket, but with that task complete, Armstrong left him to do as he pleased. None of Jack’s other men paid him anything but the most cursory attention.
From the few muttered comments he did receive, Gideon decided that everyone had accepted he was Hannah’s brother. And, as Gideon didn’t want to risk saying something that might disagree with any story Hannah was telling Jack, he didn’t dare initiate any conversation. So instead, he occupied his time by sauntering around the fort.
The compound was in a sorry state of disrepair. Only two buildings were complete and sturdy: the powder magazine at the side of the parade ground and the officers’ quarters beside the gate. These buildings were both stone. The ramshackle stablestill stood, but only because the back wall was the stockade and it supported the structure.
The collapsed remains of at least three other timber buildings were dotted around the parade ground, but whether they’d collapsed from lack of use or from the fort’s activities, Gideon couldn’t tell for sure. But as the wooden stockade around the complex and the raised look-out platform five feet from the top were just about continuous, Gideon guessed that the fort was in use right up until it had been abandoned.
At the back of the powder magazine, a ten-foot length of the stockade had collapsed. Through it, he saw earthworks consisting of a ditch and raised earth, which provided defence on the non-river side of the fort. The forest was beyond. Aside from the gate, this appeared to be the only way in and out of the fort.
Two of Jack’s men steadily patrolled the raised platform. They stopped to chat and glance outside over the occasional shortened logs but their patrol traced a route that frequently passed the collapsed length of stockade. From this observation, Gideon reckoned that Jack believed this was the fort’s greatest weakness.
As he didn’t want to draw too much attention to his interest in the fort’s surroundings and the guards’ procedures, Gideon returned to sit in the parade ground and watch the other men bustle around him.
He saw no sign of the gold that these men
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