“It could be important,” the guy said. “It’s good to know who or what we’re dealing with.”

“Could be,” Jasper said. “But I can tell you this. Gil trusts her. I trust her. If you want to know who you’re dealing with, why don’t you start by taking our cue?”

There was no response from the back.

“Otherwise, if you’re not going to listen to us,” Jasper said, “why are you on our bus?”

Again, no response.

Then, belated, one of the others uttered a quiet, “Leave it.”

Not aimed at Jasper. My detractor had been about to say something, I took it, and he’d been told to be quiet. Not the best result, but it seemed to end the line of questioning.

I wondered if there was something nice I could do for Jasper, for sparing me having to handle that.

I fished the papers out from my vest, smoothing them against my lap. I glanced out the window. The city had thinned out, and I could see farms and tent cities further out.

We had to be pretty close to our destination now.

I twisted around in my seat again, looking at the people in the back. I could tell by the way one of them held himself, shoulders square, eye contact forced, that he’d been the one to speak out against me. He studied me like he would an opponent.

I addressed them, “When we get there, we stay together. We’ll have a quick chat with the people in charge, all together. If the police have orders for us, those are the orders we follow. If not, I’ll tell you guys to get to work. You head to the crowd, and you say hi.”

“Say hi?”

“Mingle. Show your faces, let people know we’re around. Ask how they’re doing. What do they think? Look for anyone antsy, especially anyone antsy that we’re there. Don’t engage if there’s trouble. Let the police know and let me know, and we’ll figure it out.”

“I like looping through the crowds,” Jasper said. “We did that once or twice, when Gilpatrick was calling the shots, last year. People don’t see the face or the hair, only the uniform. If you loop back, it looks like there are more of us than there are.”

“Give them second thoughts?” the girl from the back asked.

“Something like that,” Jasper said.

I wrapped up. “When we get settled and things are going to start, we’ll be keeping eyes out or standing guard, probably. We regroup before then, we’ll figure out what’s up, and see where we’re needed.”

I saw people nod, then turned around in my seat.

“Which street?” Jasper asked.

“Myrtle.”

“I think that’s it down there,” he said.