6

It was early evening when Eunbi carried them past the outskirts of Frenchtown, and Minho had never felt so happy to see civilization in his life. He ached down to his bones from riding two to a saddle, and the muscles of his left arm in particular were searing in pain from supporting Taemin's drowsy body to keep him from taking a tumble. He must not have gotten a decent night's rest (which wasn't shocking for someone unused to sleeping rough) and had dozed off a couple of hours ago. Minho had slowed Eunbi down as much as he could spare while still getting them here in time for supper, and he did everything he could to ride without jostling Taemin. It was easier when he was asleep, because at least then he wouldn't talk.

Minho had no idea what to do with him.

The gang was struggling immensely. He couldn’t possibly show up with a stranger: It was another mouth to feed, another risk to calculate. Aloysius trusted Minho deeply, and he would accept his word that Taemin was worth it, but Minho wasn’t entirely sure that was true. Sure, he’d saved his life, but this man could hardly ride a horse and all but demanded to be taken care of at every moment. 

It bothered Minho that despite all the reasons he should dump Taemin here and move on alone, he kept looking for excuses to take him along.

At least Taemin wasn’t shy about taking another person’s life, and admitted himself that he had no problem stealing and lying to survive. Thanks to him, Minho had the biggest score in months packed away in his saddle bags. Even after pawning off the jewelry for less than face value, they’d still have enough to pay bail three times over and purchase some much needed supplies for the camp. 

Most importantly, though Minho was struggling to comprehend this himself, he sensed some sort of kindred spirit in Taemin. He didn’t need to explain his kind of life to him—he already knew what it was all about—and save for a few moments of awkwardness and irritation, Minho had grown comfortable enough with Taemin’s continued presence. Sure, he was an at times, but so was Minho, and so was pretty much everyone he knew.

He supposed if the worst came to pass, he could always dump him in the woods somewhere far from camp.

In the distance, he spotted the whitewashed three-story inn that sat right off the main road of town. It was bustling at this time of evening, and the windows of the ground floor were flush with light and life. Patrons stood on the second floor balcony having a smoke and a chat, and several horses were hitched to the fence out front, sticking their heads into a water trough out front. A few ladies in heavy petticoats sat in chairs on the front porch, fanning themselves. Even from here, the sounds of a piano playing a jaunty tune could be heard. It seemed like a mix of locals and travelers; this was one of several stops along the Clark Fork River heading westward to Idaho and beyond, and one of the few French-speaking locales in Montana. If the French knew how to do anything but complain about everyone else, it was to drink, smoke, and have a great time.

"Hey, wake up," Minho said to Taemin as he rubbed his palm up and down his arm to jostle him. Taemin let out a miserable groan and a yawn, then did the best he could to stretch out on horseback. "We're here."

“Finally,” Taemin grumbled. “Where’s here?”

“Called Frenchtown,” Minho answered as he directed Eunbi towards the hitching posts. “Bunch of those French Canadians settled down here. You can tell they were really creative with the name. I’ve never been here, but one of our men actually worked at this inn here for a spell—he got booted for being absolutely as a bartender, but he claims the folk here are decent enough. We shouldn’t have any problems.”

“How many people are in your little club?” Taemin asked. “You’ve mentioned your brother, the dead horse guy—”

“Pete,” Minho corrected.

“Yeah, him, and now this French dude. What’s going on there?”

Minho hopped off of Eunbi and grabbed her reins, then began knotting them around a post. “Right now, there’s nine men at the camp, ten including me, and then there’s the three girls. Rosie, too—she’s my niece—but she’s hardly learned to walk. Pete’s gone, we lost two in Dakota, and another five are locked up one way or another. Two are set to hang at the end of the month.”

Taemin let out a low whistle. He turned sideways on Eunbi and tried to hop down himself, but stumbled in the dirt. Minho caught him by the arm to steady him. “Sounds like you’re pretty ing awful at your jobs, too. Almost half of you are dead or jailed? That’s kind of embarrassing, Minho. Do you not look after your own? That would never fly in my family.” Minho's ears perked up in interest. "If they had any ing clue where I—Nevermind. Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Minho said. He unhooked the saddlebags from Eunbi and slung them over his shoulder. He wasn't leaving all that wealth unprotected overnight.

"Like you want to eat me or something. Stop it."

Minho forced a chuckle. "I'm just trying to decide if you'll go for my throat if I ask you any personal questions." Treading carefully, Minho decided to only make a vague statement. "You have a family," he said.

"Three brothers and a sister," Taemin answered with a small frown. "Not by blood or anything, but our bonds are stronger. I run with them, like you and your merry band of outlaws, 'cept we don't let anyone get lost or killed."

"Until you, I guess," Minho said, but the hurt expression on Taemin's face had him immediately regretting it. "Taemin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like—"

"Yeah, whatever," Taemin spat. He turned towards the inn and began the journey to the entrance, but he was slowed by his still smarting sores. Under his breath but loud enough to hear, he grumbled, "Should've never opened my mouth anyway."

"Hey, how come you can give me but I can't throw it back? Get over yourself," Minho countered, but his heart wasn't in it. He felt like an , and nothing Taemin said ever really hurt him anyway. It was like a kitten's nibbles, more bothersome than painful. "You know, if you join up with us, you'll have to put up with much worse than this. Kibum will tear you the apart with th