Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 116 of 619

Tucker waited until the four hired men were eating before he spoke. He crossed the yard to where Ajax stood by the fire and kept his voice low. "There's one more thing owed," Tucker said. "From me to them. And from you to me, if you'll hear it." Ajax looked at him. "When my men ride down off this shelf, they get a night at the house. On me. Rooms, drink, whatever they want upstairs. It's how I keep them. If they know that's waiting, they work harder here." Tucker rubbed his mustache. "And I'd like the same offered to your crew. One night. My cost. When the walls are finished, or before, whenever you say." Ajax looked at the wall. He looked at Grayson, who had heard it. Grayson lifted one shoulder. His business. "The men decide for themselves," Ajax said. "No one's ordered in or out." "Agreed." "Then say it to them." Tucker walked to the fire and said it plain. A night at his house at the port. Rooms upstairs. Drink downstairs. On his coin. Grayson said nothing. Chalam kept his eyes on his cup. Marco grinned at Asher across the flames. Asher grinned back. Tucker caught the look and let it sit. They rode down three days later, once the first course of stone was set and the hired men could hold the shelf. Ajax stayed behind with Elara and two of Tucker's men. Six went to the port: Tucker, Grayson, Chalam, Marco, Asher, and the other pair. The house sat on a side lane off the harbor. Two stories. Clean shutters. A woman at the door who knew Tucker's name and asked no questions about the rest. Upstairs they split. Tucker took Chalam and Grayson into one room. Marco, Asher, and the two hired men took the other. The doors closed within a minute of each other. Downstairs, Tucker's woman poured for the room. The bar filled with dockmen and a card table in the corner. A floorboard above the bar creaked, then thumped. Someone laughed. Then another muffled sound came through the ceiling, and the card table went quiet for a beat before a man there whistled through his teeth. The dockmen laughed. A cup went up. The ceiling thumped again, steadier now, and the bar picked up its noise around it. Someone counted the beats and lost the count and started over, laughing. By the time the second room went quiet, Tucker had come down the stairs alone, tucking his shirt. He told the woman to keep the tap open till dawn. Grayson came down behind him. Then Chalam, slower, with his satchel over his shoulder They drank at the bar until the upstairs went still. Leaving the bar, the team returned to their hidden camp to sleep for the rest of the night.