"What?!"
Boothill stared in shock at Acheron, who had appeared out of nowhere.
Then he turned to Black Swan.
He had imagined exchanging information with this Memokeeper, but he had never expected to meet Acheron like this.
One of Boothill's hands went to his pistol, his first instinct to put a bullet in both Acheron and Black Swan.
In the end, however, he held back. Besides, they were aboard the Astral Express. This wasn't exactly the place to start shooting.
It wasn't that Boothill had suddenly developed manners. He simply had a hunch that if he started something aboard the train, he and his gun would be thrown off together.
He had no idea where that intuition came from, but trusting your gut was perfectly normal for a cowboy. In fact, intuition was one of the skills cowboys relied on to survive.
Still, Boothill rounded on Black Swan in fury.
"Son of a nice lady-you Garden of Recollection types sold me out?!"
"My apologies. This was my request."
Before Black Swan could speak, Acheron stepped forward and politely apologized. It would have been more convincing if her placid face had shown even a hint of remorse.
"For certain reasons, I was banished from Penacony. Fortunately, this Memokeeper accompanied me, allowing me to slip out of the Family's control unnoticed."
Hearing Acheron put such a flattering spin on things, Black Swan offered a subtle smile and explained:
"I wasn't accompanying you, actually. I was following you. And the process was hardly unnoticed... but never mind. Let's go with your version."
"I asked her to take me somewhere beyond the Family's sight, to contact a few trustworthy people," Acheron continued. "That would be all of you."
"Trustworthy?" Boothill couldn't help laughing. "Ha, hahahahaha... cutie, do you take me for a lunatic or