Page 115 of Empire of Shadows

“No—I mean a literal revolutionary,” Adam corrected her. “The kind that revolts against things.”

Ellie felt a distinct burst of alarm.

“Is that why he has dynamite?” she demanded nervously.

“You mean the stuff in that shack on the hill?” Adam replied. “Naw, he said that was for stumps.”

“And you believe him?” Ellie pressed.

“Have you ever tried to pull a stump out by hand?” Adam countered. “Ain’t gonna happen. Dynamite makes way more sense.”

“I didn’t realize it was in regular circulation,” Ellie noted.

“It’s not,” Adam returned. “They probably stole it from somewhere, or else it’s old stuff the loggers won’t use anymore. Honestly, I kinda hope theydidsteal it. Dynamite gets damned tricky if you leave it lying around for too long.”

“If by ‘tricky’ you mean ‘highly unstable and prone to spontaneous combustion,’” Ellie returned uneasily.

“Well, now you know why they built a special shed for it,” Adam concluded.

She followed him under a veil of low hanging vines.

“Is he still at it, do you think?” she asked.

“Who?”

“The priest,” she clarified.

“Blowing up stumps?”

“Revolutionizing,” Ellie retorted a little impatiently.

“Pretty sure he’s retired.” Adam held a thick veil of brush back for her. “But I think he got tangled up in something dangerous in his old village. The alcalde there was trying to make peace with the British, but I’m wondering if maybe Kuyoc had other ideas. It’d explain why he never went back.”

“How very interesting,” Ellie mused, her mind already whirring. “I wonder how he ended up in Santa Dolores, of all places?”

She paused as a less comfortable thought occurred to her.

“It wasn’t on your map, was it?” she asked.

Adam came to a halt in the path ahead of her.

“What wasn’t?” he said.

“Santa Dolores,” Ellie replied.

Adam leaned his arm against a tree. His shoulders slumped a little tiredly.

“No. It wasn’t,” he confirmed.

“Are you going to add it?” Ellie quietly demanded.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Do you think I should?”

Ellie was surprised by the genuineness of the question.

“I… Well,” She struggled to find the right response. “If the village was on your map, I imagine it would mean more trade. Better communication with the other settlements. It might make it easier for the people there to resupply when things run short.”

“None of that’s wrong,” Adam carefully allowed.

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