by Gary Jonas
“You could torture her all you want but she won’t suffer pain. Just the same, I’m not going to turn her for you.”
“Well, I am sorry to hear that. It would have been sweeter all around if you had chosen to do the right thing. I guess my boys will be paying you a visit after all. They know just how to kill you, Marshal. Oh, and those dirty whores in there? Any one of them who goes to her final reward over this is on your head. And they all will.”
The Preacher laughed again. “As for torturing Nancy, sometimes the best way to hurt someone is to give them exactly what they want—” he slammed his palm into Jack’s forehead again and heart and breath stopped. “—and then take it away. Again and again and again.”
The hunger returned like molten lead pouring through Jack’s body. He reached out for the Preacher to drain him and his fist closed on empty night air.
Jack sat up in time to see a dozen men on horseback riding toward the cabin. “Nancy!” he shouted, drawing his Colt. A shot rang out behind him and the first man fell from his saddle. Jack turned, expecting to see Nancy shooting from the doorway, but she was only just opening it. Jack looked to the side of the cabin and there were Orela and Jade, the former aiming again with her rifle. Jade had the horses, and she quickly turned and led them back to the lean-to.
A searing pain in his chest made him cry out. One of the miners had shot him with a wooden arrow. It had grazed his heart; a close call. He pulled the arrow out and looked around for the shooter.
“Jack!” Orela shouted and looked as if she might run to him.
“No Orela! Stay where you are! I’m all right!” Jack knew his Colt wouldn’t be much good at this distance. He had to get his hands on a rifle and quick, or else Orela and Jade were as good as dead. Nancy knew it too. She tossed Jack one of the trapper’s guns. Jack turned and fired and they had one less miner to worry about.
Orela fired again and missed. Nancy fired her Winchester, sending another miner to his grave. The miners returned the fire. Orela screamed and ducked when a bullet lodged in the cabin wall beside her head. A moment later, she was up and shooting again. Jack heard breaking glass and saw the barrel of a rifle punching through the window. Another miner went down, and Gemma whooped. “I got one!”
“That was me who shot him, you idiot!” Nancy answered.
The rest of the miners dismounted, dropped and fired. Icicles and wood chips flew as bullets pounded the cabin walls. The miner’s horses were thoroughly terrified and ran in every direction. Jack dropped another miner. He thought they might get through this until he heard Orela cry out. Jack caught a bullet, metal and therefore harmless, as he made his way to the side of the cabin. Orela had pulled back out of sight. Jack rounded the corner and something caught him square in the face, sending him backwards. He looked up to see Jade, an expression of fury melting into surprise on her face. With the pitchfork in her hands ready to strike again, she stood over Orela’s bleeding body. If she knew Jack’s weakness, now was the time for her to kill him. Instead, she dropped down over Orela, the better to protect her from gunfire.
Orela’s blood stained the snow. Jack longed for it, longed to bury his face in Orela’s wounds and drink. It would end the hunger, now so much worse than it had ever been. It was his master, and who was he to resist? Orela coughed and sobbed, a trickle of blood running from her mouth. Jack looked at her and all he wanted to do was lick the blood from her pretty chin. She’d been so kind and sweet; surely she’d understand and let him do it?
Orela’s hand lay pale against the snow, which was smooth and white as a bed sheet.
Jack picked her up. He pushed Jade ahead of him and, shielding them from gunfire with his body, they ran to the back of the cabin. He was risking an ambush, but he could only worry about the guns he could see. When they got to the back, no one fired at them. At least he knew they weren’t surrounded – yet. The horses were gone; Jade had let them go. That meant Roulette was safe, at least for now. Jack could find him again and round up the other horses, if he and the ladies all survived this. It didn’t look promising for Orela. He needed to get her inside and look over her wounds, fighting himself the entire time. Maybe he’d let Nancy do that instead. Jack carried Orela to the far side of the back. The cabin door was closer to this side than the other. He set Orela down.
“Orela, can you walk any? Jade, can you help her?”
Both women nodded.
“We’re going to go around the other side. You two are going to walk behind me while I cover you. Understood?”
“You’ll be shot,” Orela whispered.
“Don’t you worry about me, pretty girl. This is just a game of faro and I’m the rigged box. Now, it’s just a few steps, ten at most, and we’ll be inside. You can do this.”
“Nancy!” he called out.
“Jack!”
“Put the man with the arrows at the top of your dance card for me, darlin’.”
“With pleasure!” The Winchester sang while the good time gal danced.
Jack couldn’t afford to wait. He moved forward quickly, staying close to the side of the cabin. It was easier moving on this side after the snowmelt. Orela and Jade stayed close behind. Bullets flew past. “Keep your heads down!” he shouted to the women. He heard the ‘twang’ of a bow close by and an arrow shot past him. He could still feel the wound in his heart, burning like a spark. How many more could hit him before they had the same power as a stake? Nancy and Gemma replied to the bowman. No more arrows flew.
Just to be sure, Jack got to the edge of the cabin and stopped. “How’s that archer?”
“Done dancin’,” Nancy answered.
“Then, hello the house. We’re coming in.” Jack glanced over his shoulder. “Stay behind me ladies. Door’s just two steps, and you’re safe inside.”
Jack stepped forward and moved sideways towards the door, Orela and Jade behind him. Orela’s breath was coming ragged now. He heard Nancy gasp when she saw her. She helped cover with her rifle while the three of them got to safety.
“Orela, honey, no!” Orela collapsed in Nancy’s arms, and the big woman picked her up like a child and carried her to the bed.
Jack stayed by the door and fired. He watched a man run to one of his fallen companions and realized he was going for the bow. He picked it up and nocked an arrow. Jack fired, missed and had just enough time to slam the door before the arrow embedded itself in the wood. Gemma fired, then whooped again from the window. “Got ‘im! You owe me, Jack!” She smiled at him, looking genuinely lovely and fierce.
Jack admired her only for a moment. The thought of a fresh corpse so close drove him mad. Jack opened the door to seize his prize. He didn’t care anymore who saw him.
The only bodies in the snow belonged to the wolves. Even the living miners were gone.
Gemma stared out the window, looking confused. “I don’t understand it either. I just looked away for a second....” She pulled her head back through the window.
Jack understood too well. The miners had done their job. The Preacher’s words rang in his head. Sometimes the best way to hurt someone is to give them exactly what they want and then take it away. He howled in frustration. Jack thought about the canteen the Preacher had given him. He didn’t care anymore. The trapper was dead, so what did it matter? The canteen was only a quarter full. It wouldn’t satisfy him, but it would have to be enough to keep him from finishing off Orela. And the others. Damn it all.
“Jack.” Nancy’s voice through the window, sounding lost and unsure. “Y’all better get in here.”
Orela. She had to be dying. No. Jack fought with himself. He took a deep breath as if he were still human. It served to calm him further. He pulled the cabin door open.
Drenched in blood, Orela sat on the bed, Gemma and Jade to either side, each one wrapped in the others’ arms. Nancy stood by the window, looking horrified. It took Jack a moment to see what she saw.
Gemma had a gun pressed against Orela’s breast, and Orela had one pressed ag
ainst Jade Silk Doll’s temple.
(v) This Dance, These Bones
Tears streamed down Orela’s face. “I don’t wanna do this, Jack.” She bit her lips to hold back laughter.
“I don’t wanna either,” Gemma cocked back the hammer. “So drain the bitch and give her over.” She choked on a sob.
Jade Silk Doll just closed her eyes. She actually leaned against Orela.
“I’ll die before I let him take me. Tell that to the demon.” Nancy’s voice was ice.
“He’ll kill us anyways, Jack, don’t do this!” Orela pleaded with him, then cocked her gun. “Jade, sweetheart, I love you.” Jade Silk Doll nodded and held Orela tighter.
“Fight him, ladies. Orela, you threw him off once already. Just look me in the eye.” Jack tried to enthrall her in the hopes of fighting the Preacher’s hold. The hunger leaped inside him, tied to his power. This torture could be over so quickly if I just let myself go, let myself be the dark thing the Preacher knows I am. A sinner. He took a step towards the women on the bed. That wasn’t right. He needed to drain Nancy first. He turned and looked at her.
“You are one hungry scoundrel, aint ya?” Nancy’s voice drove into his head like an icicle.
Jack leaned forward toward her throat.
Nancy jerked away, pushing against his chest at the same time. “No. Not there.” She swallowed. “That’s how you kill livestock, cut the throat and let it bleed out. You aint doin’ that to me.”
“I’ll be gentle.”
Nancy barked out a laugh. “You forget you’re talkin’ to a whore, Sunny Jim. Here.” She pulled up her right sleeve and pointed to the inside of her arm, just below the crook. “See that blue line under the skin? You can get the blood out there.”
Her voice dropped, meant only for his ears. She spoke quickly. “Take it all, Jack. Kill me and save them. Take the gals a day’s ride due south and by a creek you’ll find a boulder looks like a man’s face starin’ up. There’s a mark on the rock facing the water that’ll tell you where to go next. Follow it and one’a my sisters’ll find you after that. When she does, you got to call out the watchword ‘rho’, else she’ll shoot you. If she don’t shout ‘beta’ back, you shoot her. Tell her what happened here. Now kill me quick. You’ll be strong and clear-headed then, not this thing he done made you into.”
Jack barely heard Nancy. His attention was focused on the soft whoosh of her blood. It would be so easy to drink her dry. She wouldn’t suffer. But if I don’t drain her completely, I could be human again. I could set her to kill the Preacher after he turns me back, catch that old bastard by surprise. Then I’d help her take the others wherever the hell they want to go, to make up for it. And if she wants me to destroy her after that, I will.
Nancy’s blood called to him. She might even see the advantage to being what I am.
She sat down in the chair next to the table. Jack knelt in front of her as if proposing marriage. He took Nancy’s wrist and felt her pulse throb under his fingers. Just this last drink, then never again. This is what I want.
Nancy clapped her other hand over his, gripping him tightly.
“Look me in the eye.”
With effort, Jack looked away from Nancy’s white skin to her eyes.
“I am not offering you my life. I am not asking to be your victim. I’m doing this for them.”
“I know.”
“Don’t forget. Don’t you dare forget, you hear?”
“I hear you.”
“Swear. Not on the Bible, cause that don’t mean nothin’ to you. Swear...swear on the life you hold most dear.”
Jack closed his eyes. Sonya, his beloved wife who loved him too well, drifted briefly into his thoughts. Then she disappeared, replaced by a face he’d seen alive only for moments. Jack didn’t even know the girl’s name, didn’t know what had become of her body after he’d fed on her.
the white sheets of the hotel room, the overpowering first hunger, his wife watching him take the prostitute she’d brought to their room without remorse or regret, a girl she willingly sacrificed, only caring that her husband should live again, the girl’s frightened face, her clenched fist, relaxing now against the dirty sheets as she dies, as he ends her life
His first innocent victim.
And, Jack determined, his last.
I swear on her innocence. Jack opened his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he’d spoken aloud.
Nancy nodded. She turned his hand loose. The corner of her mouth curled up in the barest smile, one that never reached her burning eyes. “Then this is my blood. Drink it in memory of your promise.”
Jack sank his teeth into Nancy’s arm. Her blood came fast and hot into his mouth, and it was sweet. Compared to the wolves’ blood, it was honey after bile. He drank and his thoughts slipped away into sensation. He fought to remember the woman who was offering this balm to him, freely and in peace. But he wanted all of it, he wanted to drink and drink forever until he drank himself back to humanity, and failing that, oblivion. He knew that her blood, strong as it was, would lead to one or the other. But the memory of that innocent face, that relaxing fist, wouldn’t let him go down either path.
Jack lifted his mouth from Nancy’s arm and looked at her. She was panting hard; he couldn’t tell if from pain or pleasure. Sweat poured off her, ran down her pale cheeks, and he could smell, actually smell, sage and mesquite and rain after a wildfire. Those gunmetal eyes opened, burned fire-blue into his. They were filled with some strong emotion. Fury, maybe.
Jack had not taken much, a couple of pints, but he felt clear-headed. It didn’t stop him from wanting more, but he had control of himself again.
“Shut your eyes,” he whispered, “and trust me.”
Nancy closed her eyes and let herself slump onto the table. Gemma and Orela laughed and sobbed. They never saw Jack coming.
Lightning fast, Jack flew across the room and had both women by the wrists. Orela’s gun dropped to the floor. But Gemma’s finger was quicker and she got off a shot before hers fell too.
“Let them go!” Jack snarled to the Preacher. All three ladies screamed, then lay still across the bed. Jade sat up first, untouched as she was by the Preacher. Maybe it’s her innocence that protects her. The Preacher controls people through guilt and shame and whatever a person thinks of as sin. Jade Silk Doll never asked for the life she had. It was forced on her and she knows it. He wondered about Nancy, who had not fallen under the Preacher’s spell either.
Gemma roused next. She looked at the gun on the floor and then back at Orela, a look of devastation slowly creeping across her face. Maybe there was hope for her yet.
Jack heard a ripping sound behind him. Nancy tossed him a piece of old calico shirt.
“For your mouth,” she said, as she wrapped another piece around her arm.
“You gonna be all right?”
“Hell, I’ve lost more blood than this from a brawl.” But she closed her eyes as she said it. The cloth loosened in her hand.
“Let me.” Jack took the ends and Nancy let him bandage her arm without a fight.
She opened her eyes again when he finished. “Wipe my blood. Off. Your. Mouth.”
He did, fighting the urge to suck the bloody cloth dry. When he was done, he tossed the calico into the fire. He felt strong, as if he’d sucked dry a dozen victims. He’d never had blood like this before.
“What are you?” Jack whispered.
“I aint nothin’ but a sinner washed clean.” Some of the fire abated in her eyes. “But I got a sorrowful heart and a powerful thirst right now. Reckon you know somethin’ ‘bout that last bit yourself.”
“I understand both sorrowful hearts and powerful thirsts.”
Nancy looked Jack over, taking her inscrutable measure again. “Yeah, maybe you do. Maybe you do carry a heavy heart after all.”
Jack dipped a tin cup into a bucket of melted snow and offered it to Nancy. She gulped it down and gestured for another. With the second cup, color poured back into her cheeks.<
br />
“Jack. Nance.” Gemma’s voice had never sounded softer. “I didn’t mean to.”
Orela still lay on the bed. More blood trickled from her mouth and her breathing came rough and ragged. Jade had stripped off her shirt to examine her wounds. She looked up at Nancy and shook her head. Jack helped Nancy up and they walked to the bed.
“Sweet Mother of Mercy,” Nancy said, looking into Orela’s eyes. “I aint gonna lie to you. It’s real bad.” She pulled the quilt over Orela, to keep her warm until she died.
“I thank you, Nancy. Jade.” Orela took the girl’s hand. “You aint shot, are you?”
Jade shook her head.
Orela smiled. “That’s good. That’s the important thing. You are the daughter of my heart, Jade Silk Doll. I promised myself nobody’d ever hurt you again, not Trimpy, not nobody. Certainly not me.”
“I love you, Orela.” Jade’s voice was soft and clear.
“I love you too, darlin’. Nancy here’s gonna take over keeping you safe, aint you, Nancy?”
“’Course I will.”
“Gemma, you too.”
“I’m sorry,” Gemma sobbed.
“Don’t you dare. This aint your fault. I was shot already. Don’t let him get his hooks back in you like that. You be strong til you get to St. Magdalene’s where you’ll be washed clean. Now you best listen to Nancy. Don’t go givin’ her trouble.”
“Not unless she gives me trouble first.” Gemma’s smile couldn’t stop her tears.
Orela closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed and her face softened.
Jack came closer and knelt down.
Orela whispered, “I can see it. It’s so beautiful.”
“You talkin’ bout heaven?” Gemma asked.
Orela’s eyes flew open and she gasped. “Nancy! The Preacher can’t come in unless you let him. Tell her. Tell the Prioress not to let him into the mission. She can’t, ya’ll can’t.... Do ya see? Canyon angels and dust devils. So many.”
Orela’s eyelids fluttered. She looked past Nancy to Jack and reached for his hand. He gripped her fingers tightly. They were turning as cool as his. “Jack...she forgives you, Jack. The girl you took.”
