by catt dahman
“A kid I taught to shoot a gun. He has talent, and I probably ruined his life when I taught him to kill.”
Rio walked to his room with him and at the door, stared up with her probing green eyes. He grinned and said, “I guess you could repay me just a little.
After they were finished, she got up from the grimy sheets, smiled at him, and slipped from the room.
Hours later, a nagging pounding at the door awakened him right before the door came open; Rio ordered him up.
“What the hell?
“Matt Cleary, he has been stabbed, and Jack Westcoat, he says he saw you do it. They'll be here soon to hang you.” She darted out to get Curly Bill.
Back in the room, Rio pointed out the window at burning buildings. “That I did to keep them busy. I use the fire.”
“You set a fire? Damn, girl, let ‘s go. How'd you think of that?” Damned if you ain’t a ring-tailed toot.“Big Nose Kate Elder, she once told me she had done that for her man, so come.”She pulled them outside where she had three horses tied. “I am going, too.”
“Now wait.”
“My neck, it would be stretched,she declared, “l will go with you; you won me, is this not so?"
“Next time, I’ll be careful about winning,” Ringo remarked dryly. ”You’d better be able to keep up.Where do we go?”
Curly Bill looked questioningly at his friend.
Tombstone.
Ringo spurred his horse.
Tombstone, Arizona.
Chapter 21
Vampyres
Nita, Jane, and Nan relaxed in the stagecoach with George while in the coach behind them, another four of their kind similarly hid from the harsh, burning sunlight. As their power had grown and bodies changed, they had to avoid the sun, but not one of the group regretted having made the change.
Originally, they had planned to drain the entire town and to leave it a ghost town of spider webs and dust, but in their cat and mouse games with the Hunters, they had lost a few of their brethren and were angry. Some might have gone slinking back to the shadows to gain more power in time, but this clan took a more prideful approach of planning to destroy the Hunters while draining a town and possibly making more of their kind. There were no rules.
With ears trained for gossip, they had gotten a lead on where the Hunters were gathering, and with all else happening in that place, it was the perfect spot to wage a war without as much notice until it was far too late.
Tombstone was a place ripe to take.
Chapter 22
Plans to Go West
Frannie awoke slowly with the morning light washing over her. Dreamily, she wondered where her husband was. Probably he had gotten wrapped up in a card game and had not come back.
She smiled.
Dressing quickly, she opened the room's door to go out and look for him and drew in a ragged breath as she paled. Frannie reached for the door frame to steady herself.
Tentatively she raised her hand to touch what was on the door; it was her letter written to Doc explaining about the baby, about that she was married to Paris, and that it was time for all of them to move forward. It was unopened so that when Paris had gotten the letter, he would have only seen it was to Doc but would not have known the contents that explained very clearly that she loved her husband.
It was on the door, held up, pinned here by Paris with a razor-like knife. The blade tip held something else, something that encircled the tip; it was Paris’ gold wedding band. Frannie touched the blade gently, and the blade sliced her finger; blood dripped onto the letter. Crying, she slid to the floor.
It was mid-morning when Frannie left Steins with Perry Creek. Her face was pale and tear-stained. She barely spoke. She had to find Paris and show him the letter’s contents because he must have felt betrayed by her and angry.
She was going to Tombstone to wait for him and to tell Doc in person.
Chapter 23
Tombstone
North America covers roughly 9,550,000 square miles. In the 1880s, there were approximately fifty million residents in the Federal Census, but racial groups, other than whites, were under counted, as were those who were in more remote parts of the country. But for all those people and all the small and large towns, mining and agricultural centers, and quick access to Mexico, it was amazing to realize that many famous names of the times were converging in one place. News traveled slowly, if at all, so it almost defied imagination that they would all amass in Tombstone, Arizona at the same time, and yet, they did.
Vampyres of the United States and western history were about to take a drastic turn, and nothing would ever be the same.
(Fort Worth, June 2014)
Notes
Some parts of the history of the OK Corral didn’t make sense to me, so I went out to West Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona where I did my research for quite a while. While there, I fell in love with the western elements. Many people (Wyatt, Virgil, James, and Morgan Earp and their women) were real and are loosely described here, but the facts are somewhere between their being heroes and their being outlaws. Johnny Ringo, John Wesley Hardin, Doc Holliday, Big Nose Kate Elder, Bat Masterson, and many others were very real people. I found that a few were as good or as bad as books and movies tell us but were more of the kind to take opportunities on either side of morality. I have taken liberties in describing the real people and events, but with the exceptions of my additions, the events of this time period are accurate.
Some of the scenes in the book actually happened much like I described. A bar mentioned, The Rosebud Saloon, was one that my family owned in Jefferson, Texas. The legend of Diamond Bessie (killed by Abe Rothschild) is told in Jefferson, and her grave and a yearly play are tourist attractions in Jefferson, Texas.
Please forgive any liberties I have taken with the historical people, places, and things. After three years of research, this is as close to the real story as anyone is likely to get. There are neither vampyres in Texas nor out West that I personally know of; however, my not knowing them doesn’t reflect on their existence.
About the author:
catt dahman has been writing for more than 30 years, has taught in public schools, private schools, home school, and college (literature). Her B.S. and M.S. degrees are from Texas A & M, with almost a doctorate in psychology (criminology). She has a Texas teaching certificate anad is a native of North East Texas; she has lived all over the US, (and tries to claim Jamaica as a second home) but is currently back in the Fort Worth, Texas area where she lives with her husband, David (a retired Marine), son Nic, 4 cats (Ollie, Limmy, TS, and Murron), a ferret (Tassels), and dog (Levi). Family and writing are her life. First published in the ‘80s, she now is a full time writer with a mission to scare everyone she can find. She has also been a public speaker, artist (numerous awards and art shows), director for a charity (YWCA), and dabbled as a PI. When not working, she enjoys SCUBA diving (certified PADI), reading, ruining movies for her family by pointing out mistakes, collecting Tarot card sets, playing Legos with her son, and growing herbs. She now writes full time, working on a zombie series of five books, short stories, horror, splatter punk, thrillers, vampire books, and westerns.
