Fevre Dream Page 0,163

and a coldness settled on him such as he had never known. "The Fevre Dream," he said.

"They are floating her again," said York, "clearing out that waterway we had filled in. Sour Billy is raising money. Later this month he will come to the city and hire a crew, to help make her ready and man her when the time comes. Julian thinks it will all be very amusing. He intends to take her to New Orleans and land her until the day of the race. He will let the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee depart first, and then he will take the Fevre Dream upriver after them. When darkness falls, he will close in on whichever boat is leading, pull alongside her, and... well, you know what he intends. Both steamers will be lightly manned, without any passengers, to keep their weight down. Julian will have an easy time of it. And he will compel all of us to take part. I am his pilot." He laughed bitterly. "Or I was. When I first heard his madness, I fought him, and lost yet again. The next dawn I stole Billy's horse and fled. I thought that I could frustrate him by running. Without a pilot, he could not bring it off. But by the time I had recovered from my burns, I saw the fallacy in that. Billy will simply hire a pilot."

Abner Marsh had a heavy churning in the pit of his stomach. Part of him was sick and furious at Julian's plan to make the Fevre Dream some kind of demon steamer. But another part of him was entranced by the boldness of it, by the vision of his Fevre Dream showing up both of them, Cannon and Leathers and the whole damn world to boot. "Pilot, hell," Marsh said. "Them two steamers are the fastest things on the goddamned river, Joshua. If he lets them get off first, he ain't never goin' to catch them, nor kill nobody." But even as he said it, Marsh knew he did not really believe it.

"Julian thinks that makes it all the more amusing," Joshua York replied. "If they can stay ahead of him, they live. If not..." He shook his head. "And he says he has the greatest faith in your steamboat, Abner. He intends to make her famous. Afterward, both boats are to be wrecked, and Julian says we will all escape to the shore and make our way to the east, to Philadelphia or perhaps New York. He is weary of the river, he claims. I believe that is so much empty talk. Julian is weary of life. If he carries through this plan, it will mean the end of my race."

Abner Marsh got up off the bed and stamped his cane on the floor in fury. "Goddamn it to hell." he roared. "She'll catch 'em, I know she will, she could have caught the goddamned Eclipse if she'd been given the chance, I swear it. She ain't goin' to have no goddamned trouble outrunnin' the likes of the Natchez and the Bad Bob. Hell, neither one of them could ever beat the Eclipse. Goddammit, Joshua, he ain't goin' to do this with my steamboat, I swear he ain't!"

Joshua York smiled a thin, dangerous smile, and when Abner Marsh looked into his eyes he saw the determination he had once seen in the Planters' House, and the cold anger he had once seen when he barged in on York by day. "No," York said. "He isn't. That's why I wrote you, Abner, and prayed that you were still alive. I have thought a long time about this. I am decided. We will kill him. There is no other way."

"Hell," said Marsh. "Took you long enough to see that. I could have told you that thirteen goddamned years ago. Well, I'm with you. Only-" He pointed his cane at York's chest. "-we don't hurt the steamer, you hear? The only thing wrong with that goddamned plan of Julian's is the part where everybody gets killed. The rest of it I like just fine." He smiled. "Cannon and Leathers is goin' to get such a goddamned surprise they ain't goin' to believe it."

Joshua rose smiling. "Abner, we will do our best, I promise you, to see that the Fevre Dream remains intact. Be sure to caution your men."

Marsh frowned. "What men?"

The smile faded from Joshua's face. "Your crew," he said. "I assumed that you came down here on