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Valentine offered his canteen and Duvalier cleared her mouth out, then drank.
"I wish we could have saved you a few miles. These rocks prevented it," Valentine said.
Duvalier unwrapped a piece of dried legworm jerky and took a bite. "Seng's got half the brigade on the way. The Bears and what Wolves he has left are on their way to the bridge you dynamited, along with some of the legworm troops. Karas gave another whoop-'em-up speech and sent them off hollering. There's a big file of legworms following this track too. They're tearing a bunch of new holes in their mounts, prodding them at speed."
"Any orders for me?"
"Just to let them know if you found some good ground for an ambush."
Valentine let himself soar a little. Seng saw an opportunity to sting the Kurians good and was grasping for the rose and not minding the nettles. Even if it drew lots of troops into this part of Kentucky, he'd be across another line of mountains by the time they could organize themselves.
"Can you help me here?" Valentine asked.
"Sure. Want me to brew up some of this Kentucky hickory nut coffee? Not like those cafes in the French Quarter, but it's hot."
Valentine smiled. "Not that easy. The Reapers could be here any time. I'd really like another trained Hunter up with my men. You could jam yourself between a couple of boxcars, wait for a chance to make a move."
"Me? I'm a heroic kinda fighter, Val. When bullets start to fly I prefer to head the other direction."
Valentine touched her on the shoulder. "I know. Just this once. Please, AH."
She looked off down the tracks and into the Kentucky night. "No, Val. I don't like the odds.
Multiple Reapers, at night?"
Duvalier at least had the sense to refuse quietly. At most, Preville and Ediyak heard her.
Valentine wondered if she'd obey a direct order. Technically, Cats bore the rank of captain, but he suspected she'd tell him to get stuffed and bring her up on charges. "All right, how about a job more in line with your tastes?"
"I hope it doesn't involve climbing back on that bike."
"No, I want you to scout out a good, covered route away from the rails and up this ridge.
Take Ediyak with you and show her it. If a Reaper starts sniffing around in our rear, take care of him, or warn me."
"That's more my style," she said, fixing a button on her coat. "Want some of this bug jerky?
It's not half bad. I think these guys use molasses."
Valentine stomped down his vexation with Duvalier. "Ediyak, go with Smoke here. Don't worry, she's just marking out a line of retreat. She'll keep an eye on you out in the dark."
"Two eyes," she agreed, smiling at his clerk. Ediyak was rather good-looking at that. But then the kind of Quislings who ended up in the Order's services had better access to nutrition and grew up well-formed.
A soldier trotted up.
"Sir, Red Dog is acting really weird. He's hiding under the sheep and whimpering. Harmony says they used to have a hound that acted just the same way when there were Savio- mean to say, Hoods around. He told me to get you. "
Valentine still felt disquieted.
He turned to Duvalier. "You'd better make your exit now, or you won't have an option anymore."
She gestured to Ediyak. "Direction is the better part of valor," she said. Ediyak picked up her rifle and checked it.
Valentine was beginning to suspect Duvalier liked to misquote Shakespeare just to bug him. He reached into a cargo bag and extracted a flare pistol on a lanyard and a pouch of flares.
"Don't get yourself taken," she said to Valentine. "One is my limit for heroic rescues." She gave him a quick buss on the ear, standing on tiptoe to reach, kissing lightly enough that Valentine felt like Peter Pan brushed by Tink's wings.
Then the Kentucky night swallowed her.
