Guns of Perdition

by Jessica Bakkers

  “But you never saw any gold again?” Grace mused.

  Joseph shook his head. “No, we saw nuggets from time to time...too few to split evenly. Just enough to keep folk grumbling and toiling. Working fields that were fast getting pillaged of all their goodness. See the soil around here ain’t too goodly for growing and we’re limited to where we can sow. Any farmer worth his salt knows you gotta give soil time to recover after a harvest. We didn’t have the luxury of time to wait and let the soil recover. And so the harvest came in weaker and sicker every season.”

  Joseph drummed his fingers on the stew pot. “The folk took little and less and sent the bulk up the mountain. We expected any day Mister Boothe would cry ‘Eureka!’ and see the town flush with gold enough to buy in grub and grog...”

  “But it didn’t happen,” Ruby said softly.

  Joseph shook his head. “When the first child died of starvation it finally hit home. Barren Banks was dying.”

  “So why didn’t you all do something?” Jessie exclaimed.

  Abigail’s stormy gaze slid onto Jessie, and he bit his tongue at his outburst.

  Joseph looked at the young lad with a wan smile. “Like what? Raise our pitchforks at Mister Boothe and his armed outriders? We’re peaceable folk without knowledge of warfare and guns.”

  “So, you all just sat back and continued sending food up the mountain, waiting for the big score.” Grace’s words dripped with fury. She shook her head and muttered to herself.

  Abigail drew a breath, but Joseph patted her arm and she closed her mouth on her anger. “Do you know what it’s like to miss a meal? Do you know how the hunger twists up your belly and makes pains set up in your gut? Have you felt the addled brain that comes from missing two meals? The weakness? The dizziness? The sheer confusion and helplessness? We cain’t confront Mister Boothe now even if we wanted to. We ain’t got the strength. Not when the best we sup on is this.”

  Joseph lifted the lid on the stew pot. Grace and Jessie leaned over and looked in. A thin brown liquid covered the bottom of the pot. As Joseph rocked the pot, tiny bones floated to the surface, then sank.

  Grace leaned back and her nose wrinkled. “Prairie dog?”

  Joseph shrugged. “Some. Mouse and squirrel mostly.”

  Jessie blanched and looked away. Grace sniffed and rose to her feet. She waved at the hearth. “Get a fire going. Dump that sparrow bait. We got a proper Sioux tracker with us. Tokota’ll fix up some proper game and give you a decent meal.”

  Abigail glanced at her father. He chewed his lip for a moment, then nodded. She went to work doing as Grace suggested.

  Grace motioned for Ruby and Jessie. She led them to the doorway as Abigail collected the stew pot from the table. “Reckon you were right, Ruby, when you said this here town got the same shecoonery going on as Temerity. La Chat Affamee had a hold on you just like this Barren Mountain and Mister Boothe’s got a hold on Joseph and the townsfolk. The whole thing reeks of the Darksome Gunman.”

  Jessie frowned. “What are you fixing to do about it?”

  Grace touched the handle of Justice. “Gonna take a look-see at this mine.”

  Jessie tilted his head to the side. “I’m coming too.”

  Grace eyed him for a moment and squinted. Finally, she nodded. “Alright, but you listen to me and do what I say when I say, got it?”

  “When do I do anything else?” Jessie replied.

  Grace thumped his arm a little too hard to be good-naturedly. She looked at Ruby and said, “Stay here and get as much skinny as you can from these two. Meanwhile, I’m gonna get Tokota to scare up some game for this town. Least we can do while we’re here is help feed them.”

  Ruby nodded and patted Jessie’s arm. “Be careful.”

  Grace smiled at Ruby. “Ain’t we always?”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Dusk had claimed the land by the time Jessie, Grace, and Kaga made it to the mountaintop. For a working claim, the mountain path was in surprisingly ill repair. Scrub and weeds covered the path, and in places higher up, the way was near impassable where rockslides had carved great chunks out of the path. Grace and Jessie went slowly and carefully and followed in Kaga’s footsteps as he padded with quiet grace up the mountainside. The mouth of the mine was little more than a ten-foot tall opening cut into the rock, shored up on either side with solid boards. There was no campsite set out near the opening. There were no lit lanterns or braziers to cut the inky darkness. It was silent but for the eerie howl of the desert wind as it cut over the mountain.

  Grace and Jessie squatted in the dirt. Grace had one arm wrapped around Kaga as she eyed the opening. Around them, the sky deepened to indigo.

  “What do you think? Seem a bit fish to you? No lights. No tools. Nothing that says this is a working claim.”

  Kaga rumbled. Jessie nodded wordlessly.

  Grace patted Kaga’s chest. “Deviltry afoot. I feel it. Stay sharp.” She pushed off and crept for the mouth of the mountain. Almost as though it was sentient, Justice found its way into her hand. Jessie swallowed and followed behind her, wishing he was as silent as she. With her free hand, Grace slid a redhead match from her pocket and scraped it alongside the mine. A small flame danced at the end of the match. She approached a set of lanterns hung on metal pegs opposite one another. Jessie plucked a lantern from the wall and carefully lifted off the glass chimney. Grace set the match to the wick and brought the lantern to life. After Jessie set the glass chimney back in place, Grace adjusted the wick so the flame burned low. Using the same match, they lit the lantern opposite but left it sitting in its sconce at the mouth of the mine.

  Jessie held up their lantern and lit up the entry. They squinted in the gloom but could see nothing beyond a few feet. Jessie started forward and rolled his ankle on unsure ground.

  Grace hissed at him to be quiet. Jessie lowered the lantern as Kaga padded up beside them and nosed the round object Jessie had tripped on.

  It was a human skull.

  The temperature dropped the farther they crept into the mine. The little patch of daylight at the entrance was long behind them. It was pitch black but for the flickering lantern. As they crept through the darkness, Jessie kicked bones and debris along the path. He recognized human bones, but also squat sheep bones, small rodent bones, and old, bleached bones of unknown origin. It wasn’t just bones that littered the path. The first time he stepped on a slimy piece of rotten lettuce, he’d lost his footing and slid to his knees. More rotten vegetables littered the path, and the stink of the combined decay was cloying.

  It seemed that not all of Barren Banks’ residents were starving.

  “This is disgusting,” he whispered.

  To her credit, Grace had neither slipped nor stumbled on the uneven surface. She glowered and put her finger to her lips. Kaga rumbled and padded forward. His yellow eyes caught the lantern light and flickered as he gazed back at them. Jessie thought the wolf was smiling at his misfortune. He sighed and continued on, carefully kicking away rot and bones as he moved. The dank odor that surrounded them ripened the deeper they went. After a moment, Grace fished about for her kerchief and tied it around her face, train-robber style. She tossed a second kerchief to Jessie, who took it gratefully. He licked his lips beneath the kerchief and wiped his brow with the back of his arm. An air of wrongness hung heavy in the oppressive blackness. They continued on deeper into the belly of the mine.

  Suddenly, Kaga stopped. His hackles raised and his lips pulled back revealing tooth and gum. A low angry snarl sounded deep in his throat.

  Grace dropped a hand on his back. “Kaga. What is it?”

  The wolf stared ahead into the darkness. His lips pulled back farther as he snarled. Jessie raised the lantern in the gloom, and he and Grace peered into the darkness. The lantern swung in his hand and light danced around the cavern. Something flashed in the darkness, caught by the light. Jessie gasped and swung the lantern. Again, something flashed. He squinted as he swung the lantern a third time. Th
e lantern glinted off a set of iridescent eyes.

  Jessie had time to grunt and jerk backward before the thing in the darkness lunged. It darted forward on fast flat feet and feinted sideways as Kaga snapped. The gray-skinned creature scrabbled up the side of the cavern, using its talons like a pickax. It spun over and dropped on Grace. It happened so fast, all Grace could do was throw up her arms to shield herself as the creature’s fanged maw chomped and bit. Jessie watched, frozen in horror as it devoured half of her John. B and took a meaty chunk out of her neck. Grace jerked and managed to grab its bony body and fling it away. The creature thudded hard onto the rock floor and flipped to its feet. It grinned at Grace, its fangs bloody. Its shimmery eyes reflected the crazily swinging lantern, and when Kaga’s claws scratched the ground, the creature’s head jerked in the wolf’s direction. Quicker than Kaga, the creature skittered forward and slashed the wolf’s muzzle. Kaga reared back with a yelp, and the grinning creature lunged forward.

  Jessie screamed and swung the lantern with as much force as he could muster, straight into the little creature’s face. Glass shattered and the creature smacked heavily into the tunnel wall. The lantern’s bent wick sputtered and sent dramatic shadows cavorting down the tunnel but remained blessedly alight.

  Grace slapped her hand against her neck where blood flowed freely down her shirt. Kaga came forward and she grabbed his jowls. She pulled him toward the light and winced as she looked at the angry parallel slashes across his nose. Jessie peered at the blood oozing around Grace’s gloved hand. He yanked off his kerchief and held it in place as she tied it snugly around her throat.

  They squinted down at the creature as it twitched on the floor. One of its eyes was punctured, and yellow fluid trickled down its ruined face. The other eye roved the cavern as it hissed and spat. Grace hunched beside the creature and snapped her fingers in front of its face. It jerked and shrieked.

  “Blind. But it can probably hear and smell better than we can see in daylight.” She grabbed the creature’s wrist and held it up to the lantern. The long talons clacked together.

  “Good for cutting rock. And flesh.”

  Jessie shuddered. Grace dropped the creature’s hand. It hissed and let out a mewling cry. Grace stood up, rolled her neck, and winced.

  “Heard folk back east tell about a nest of these things they dug up in a mine. Attracted to gold and silver. Got a hunger that cain’t be satisfied. Kobolds, they called them.”

  Kaga whined and looked up at Grace.

  “Fierce as Sam Hill, yeah. But they can be killed just like anything else.” She lowered Justice at the kobold and took a bead on the creature’s single shimmering eye.

  Kaga whined louder and nudged her.

  “Uh, is that a good idea?” Jessie murmured.

  Grace frowned and squeezed the trigger. The roar of Justice was deafening inside the cavern. Grace nodded as a wisp of cordite curled from the barrel. Kaga’s whine turned into a low growl. Jessie turned and raised the lantern.

  The flickering light danced across the cavern and illuminated hundreds of blinking, iridescent eyes.

  Jessie was winded and struggling, but he couldn’t begin to fathom how Grace was even still upright. Blood stained the collar of her shirt where it dribbled out beneath the kerchief. She limped on her right leg, which was oozing red beneath her shredded leather pants. She was filthy and bleeding, and her cavalry saber wobbled when she swung it through the air. The blade sliced through three howling kobolds, clanged into the cavern wall, and drew sparks from the rock. Steaming viscera and entrails made the tunnel floor slick and slippery.

  Jessie backed up as Grace took a hard-won, shuffling step backward. His guttering lantern sputtered as he peered over her shoulder and sucked in a quick breath as the horde surged forward. The kobolds were endless and ferocious. When one fell, three more took its place. They poured up the tunnel, across the walls, and along the ceiling.

  Grace had long since fired Justice and Mercy dry, and Jessie had emptied his Colt. She hadn’t brought her Winchester with her but quickly went to work with the cavalry saber, cleaving limbs and rending flesh. Kaga gnashed and bit, but despite his size and lethality, the sheer numbers of the horde had beaten the wolf. After a particularly nasty incident, Grace had shoved Kaga behind her, relegating him to Jessie’s side, as she stood in the fore relentlessly swinging her saber.

  And still, the kobolds came.

  Grace slashed gray flesh, and limbs scattered as she won another step backward. Kaga snapped at a kobold that got under Grace’s saber and ripped the creature’s arm from its shoulder. The kobold shrieked as gristly tendrils of flesh slopped to the floor. It fell back into the horde. Angry flashing eyes blinked in the darkness behind the bulk of the horde; more fiends waiting for their turn to taste fresh meat.

  Jessie had never felt so impotent and terrified in his life. All he could do was shout and warn Grace as the kobolds surged forward again and again. He risked a glance over his shoulder and frowned as he saw an oblong patch of orange. The entrance, lit up by the small, solitary lantern. While that meant they were finally near the top of the shaft and close to the exit, it also meant the kobolds would no longer be contained by the narrow six-by-four shaft. Free to swarm, the kobolds would quickly overpower them.

  Grace staggered back another step and swung the saber. The kobolds at the forefront jumped back and only one fell to the bite of the cold steel. The others grinned and lunged at Grace. She reversed the blade and swung back in a stunning display of agility. All three were cleaved in half. Grace staggered and both Jessie and Kaga butted up against her, lending her their strength.

  As Grace twisted, she jostled Jessie, who lost his grip on the lantern. It tumbled to the ground and finally went out. Gray darkness descended and the kobolds screeched as though emboldened by the black blanket that enveloped the tunnel.

  Jessie’s heart thrummed in his ears as he spun around, desperate to help in some way. He glanced at the mouth of the mine and spied the remaining kerosene lantern at the entrance. He spun without a second thought and sprinted up the shaft. Jessie skidded to a stop and yanked the lantern from its metal hook. He fiddled with the wick and brought the lantern to a burnished blaze, then charged down the mine shaft toward Grace.

  The glow of the lantern spilled onto Kaga as the wolf leaped into Grace’s position at the front of the horde. The kobolds rushed forth with renewed vigor, as though they could smell the fear and exhaustion coming from the wolf. Kaga ripped and shredded the fiends as they clamored over each other to get to him. Talons sank into his fur and flesh as they struggled for handholds. One latched onto Kaga’s jaw with its razor-sharp maw. The kobold shook its head and ripped a chunk of Kaga’s cheek from his muzzle. The wolf howled and tried to shake off the creature. Emboldened and enraged by the smell of fresh blood, the horde surged forward.

  “Hey, you French-pox addled, shit-licking Hellspawn! Eat this!” A kobold blinked as Jessie raised the lit kerosene lantern in his hand. He flung the lantern into the swarm of gray bodies and grinned as the lantern exploded on impact. Glass and flame sprayed across the horde. Gray kobolds screamed and flailed as fire engulfed them and spread, their closely packed bodies perfect fuel for the hot flames. The sickening smell of burning flesh wafted into Jessie’s nostrils as Grace straightened and slid her saber into the remaining few kobolds who clung to Kaga. A sea of flaming, flailing kobold bodies separated them from the remaining horde. But furious as the fire might be, it would quickly gut and die, and the remaining horde were already beginning to try to find a way past their burning brethren.

  “C’mon!” Jessie cried as he shoved Grace. She grunted and dug her fingers into Kaga’s blood-slick coat. She swore as she tugged the heavy wolf in her shaking arms.

  The flames that had consumed the crowd of kobolds in the front of the horde were beginning to taper down. Enraged kobold faces were already visible behind the flames.

  “Move, Kaga!” Grace cried and jabbed her fingers into Kaga�
�s ribs. The wolf stirred and whimpered. She jabbed him again and finally, Kaga staggered to his feet and together they struggled to the exit.

  Cool desert breeze tousled Grace’s hair as she struggled to keep Kaga on his feet. Down the evil-smelling shaft, a thin wail reverberated. More voices joined the plaintive cry, screaming in pain and terror. Then a triumphant bellow tore up the shaft.

  Grace, pale in the moonlight, stared wide-eyed down the shaft. “They’re through the fire.”

  Kaga slumped against her leg, utterly spent. He closed his big dark eyes.

  Grace closed her eyes and swayed, the saber tip touched the ground in defeat.

  “Grace!” Jessie called. She turned and a wan smile crossed her dirty face. Jessie, scowling but determined, gripped Crowbait’s reins firmly and walked the ornery mare toward Grace and Kaga.

  “She was just standing over there near the plateau...like she was waiting or something,” Jessie said.

  Grace closed her eyes for a second, then lurched into action. “Crowbait, down!” she commanded.

  The pale mare neighed but complied and kneeled her front forelegs on the dirt. Jessie and Grace grunted in unison but managed to roll the unconscious wolf onto the muscular furrow between Crowbait’s neck and back. The mare’s ears flattened and she snorted. Grace flung herself into the saddle and squeezed Crowbait’s sides until the nag lurched up. She kept one hand on the slumped wolf so he wouldn’t slide off and stuck out her other hand for Jessie. He hesitated, eyeing the grumpy nag, then took Grace’s hand and climbed up behind her. Crowbait stomped on the ground.

  “Yeah, I know, it’s a pisser having strangers cross your back. I’ll make it up to you. Now get!”

  Crowbait pranced to the side and snorted beneath the strange smell and added weight of her new passengers. She darted sideways, away from the mine shaft as loud cries rose up from the depths. Grace screamed at Crowbait to go as the first kobold lunged from the shaft. Crowbait eyed the gray creature, snorted in ill temper, then took off. The kobold gave chase but couldn’t hope to match the pale mare.