Red West II.

Chapter thirty one - Tipsy loving

After the third round of beer it turned out that some members of the Riders were, among other things, also artistically gifted. First Ryo pulled out a small harmonica from his pocket, cheering everybody up with the playful melody. Quite soon, he was followed by Jin, who set the guitar free from its shelter after quite a long time. Willingly granting the others' wishes, he played a few of well-known songs, making almost everyone sing. And despite not having the most pleasant vocal, Koki was definitely very eager to demonstrate his singing skills the loudest of all.

Kame felt a strange and yet somehow familiar squeeze in his chest, seeing the instrument in Jin's hands. Even though the older one didn't play often, he didn't seem to be uncertain with it at all.

Back in Montana, there were not many chances to listen to Jin's playing or singing much, mostly thanks to the treatment the young gunslinger had received from Math Grenet. But even that little of what Kame heard was stuck in his memory. When the strings chimed with the catchy tones now, it brought the younger one back to those rare moments and made him realize just how much things had changed since then.

Kame sighed a little, trying to suppress uneasiness in his heart, while observing his friends singing so enthusiastically that they surely startled all the wildlife around. Considering Leo's plans with Tabor, their circumstances would just keep changing and there was no guarantee it would be for the better. It was impossible to guess where the upcoming actions of the gang would lead them. At the moment, Kame couldn't be sure about anything, not even about their home-coming...

They never talked about it, but it was still somewhere on Kame's mind – he wanted to go back home once it would be possible. He was not so sure about Jin though... It was more than clear that the older one would do anything to protect his little brother, and since Leo was here in Colorado, there was nothing to drag him back to Montana. Unlike Kame, who often thought of Liwan and the rest of the Blackfeet Tribe and of Brice family...

The haunted newbie-Rider drank up his tankard in almost one go, in the desperate attempt to relax his overworked mind. There was no point in pondering all of it now. There was that Tabor-issue to deal with and only depending on the results, they could decide on what to do next. It was too soon to be pessimistic... At least Kame hoped so.

*

After another cheerful session combined with both guitar and harmonica, the most of the gang finally admitted they were too hoarse to continue scaring the animals away and the atmosphere around the campfire changed a bit.

Nick went to sleep even before the last song, Jack barely kept his eyes open, obviously not being able to drink anymore and Cullen was staring into the flames, smoking his umpteenth cigarette. Ryo and Koki gathered the empty tankards and headed to their favorite place of that evening – to the cellar, while Kame took care of the fire, adding the sticks here and there to chase the growing chill of the night away.

Seeing the most mocking part of their group leaving, Leo got up and walked to his brother, who kept strumming on his instrument without any real purpose. Leo said something quietly, right in Jin's ear, before returning to his spot beside Jane.

Jin just sat there for a while, looking thoughtfully, before he altered the guitar's position a little, closed his eyes and started to play again. Since Kame had noticed before that Jin avoided joining the others with his voice, it was a pleasant surprise when he accompanied the slow and romantic melody also with words this time.

Noticing the loving way in which Leo took Jane into his arms, whispering something to her, Kame realized that the younger brother had asked Jin to sing a love song for the brunette in his place. It was a sweet gesture and it was nice of the older one agreeing to it without any remarks. And it was beautiful, especially with that incredibly emotional color of Jin's voice...