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Episode Seven concluded with:
Dehner changed the
subject. “I hear laughter from our pursuers.”
Stacey nodded his head. “At this time of night,
the entire population of Hellfire is inebriated.”
“The devil’s brew has been the ruin of many a
soul,” Hosea lamented.
“Yes. But tonight Beelzebub’s bottles may
be our friends.” Stacey looked back. “They aren’t making very good time. Let’s
ride a bit faster. There are a few things we need to get done before we
confront those villains.”
They spurred their horses into a gallop over the
flat, dismal land. The few bushes and trees they rode past were withered and
bent, as if this portion of the territory was a monument to death.
Episode Eight
Stacey
pointed to a dark patch which lay in front of them. “Up ahead!”
They
reined in at a gathering of five crooked trees huddled together as if trying to
comfort each other. An abandoned shack stood several yards away. Stacey spoke
as the three men dismounted. “This is one of the few spots that offers shade in
the daytime. An obvious location for a line shack.”
“What
do you have in mind, Stacey?” Rance asked.
Stacey
hastily opened a saddle bag, pulled a wax object out and held it up for his two
companions to see. “I plan to light one candle rather than curse the darkness.
You gents tie up the horses.”
The
gambler ran to the dilapidated structure. True to his word, candlelight could
soon be seen through the shack’s one small window. Stacey ran back to his
companions and hastily explained his plan. The three men waited in the darkness
of the trees. Rance and Stacey held Colts. Hosea Rimstead was now armed with a
Winchester he had pulled from the boot of his saddle.
The
sound of approaching hoofbeats mingled with the laughter Rance had heard earlier.
Both sounds came to a stop. Whispering could be heard, followed by a couple of
guffaws. A moment of total silence followed, then gunshots were fired at the
cabin as four men rode toward it. Two of the men were firing pistols and two
carried Henrys. Splinters of wood exploded from the shack as a storm of bullets
pierced it. One of the Henrys blew a hole under the window of the shack.
The
four men pulled back and admired their destruction, as if they had just pulled
off a dangerous military maneuver. The flame that still flickered inside seemed
to hypnotize them for a few moments.
“Think
anyone is still alive in there?” One of the outlaws asked, his voice
slurred a bit by alcohol.
“Na.
They’re all dead, or close to it. But let’s move in slow.”
Later,
it would occur to Rance Dehner that what happened next may have looked funny if
there had been a bystander around to watch. The four outlaws dismounted and
began to move slowly toward the shack. As they did so, Stacey,Rance and Hosea
moved from the shadow of the trees into the moonlight and advanced quietly
toward the backs of the owlhoots.
“Freeze
and drop your guns, gentlemen!” Stacey shouted. “Failure to comply will result
in immediate death.”
The
outlaws did what they were told. Although they couldn’t see him, there was no
mistaking the voice of Stacey Hooper. One of the jaspers spoke, his voice
trembling, “You gonna shoot us down like dogs?”
Stacey
Hooper’s laugh conveyed a genuine sense of fun. “I believe we can avoid such
vulgarity. No gentlemen, I believe this occasion calls for a touch of
whimsy.”
Tomorrow:
Episode Nine of Hellfire
