I seem to be working rather fast on this. Writing practically a chapter a day...but that's to make up for later on this summer. I'm moving out to work on a ranch for at least a couple weeks out of every month. So hopefully I'll write enough to kinda tide yall over for those periods!


Raoul took a drink out of his flask and sat down by the fire with the other Cavalry men. He was in something of a bad mood, and hearing the talk of the other men didn't exactly lift his spirits. They weretalking aboutsome legendarymasked gunman that had apparently been a hit man for one of the largest cattle outfits in Texas. An interesting tale, he had to admit. But he assumed that a tale was all it was. Mostly, Raoul figured just about all of what they said on a regular basis to be lore and legend, which he wouldn't really have much tolerance for on a normal day. Raoul Chagny was not a man to believe legends or much other than proven fact. Especially not tonight. "And do tell, what became of this man?" Raoul asked sarcastically.

One of the other soldiers leaned towards him, apparently not hearing the sarcasm in his voice. "Well, no one knows, exactly. Some say he got shot up somewhere around Dodge, and others say he turned around and bought a ranch, cleaned up."

Raoul cocked an eyebrow. "I see. And we're talking about him because…"

Another soldier stretched and said in a lazy drawl, "Well, we reckon we saw him tonight."

Both eyebrows were up now. "Oh, really?" It would be fascinating to hear their reasoning behind this one.

"Yessir…James o'er there says he saw him leavin' town earlier tonight."

"Ah," Raoul said, beginning to lose interest. If it was just a case of mistaken identity, which it probably was, the men were wasting their time. As always. He stood and started to walk away.

"Yeah, he was with some girl. Right pretty, too. She had this long brown hair…and big brown eyes. Say, wasn't she the one who sang tonight, Zeke? That one song at the end?"

Raoul felt like his blood was running cold in his veins. He turned around slowly to face the soldiers again as Zeke answered. "Yeah, that was her. She was something else, huh? And a heck of a singer, too," he said with an ornery grin. "Her name…what was it?"

"Christine." Raoul said quietly. "Christine Daae."

"Yeah, that's the one. Christine!" James said.

Raoulsat back down between the men. His heart was racing, faster than anything he had ever felt. Maybe he was just being a fool. Maybe…Maybe it was just some bored men running their mouths. Somehow, though, Raoul highly doubted that. He had seen her leaving with someone tonight. Drawing a deep breath in an attemtto gather his wits, he smiled amicably. "Gentlemen, I don't believe I heard all of your story about the gunman. Would you mind telling me some more about him?"

"Well…" one of the men started. He was heavily tanned from hours in the Texas sun. "No one really knows much about his past, or nothing like that. They say he came out here as just a kid, with his parents. But they were so scared of him…No one really knows why. One day, the Comanches raided their home. They say he wasn't no more than 4 or 5. Anyway, the Comanche's killed his folks and took him, with them."

"They killed his family, but not him?" Raoul asked. That sounded a bit odd…He hadn't much experience with Indians, but he didn't think they'd be so partial to just one member of a family. But then, what did he know?

The man telling the story kind of glared, as if he were annoyed with Raoul's interruption. "Yeah, not sure why they didn't kill him. Not then, anyway. I hear that the Comanches tried…tried awful hard to kill him. There was something about him that just scared them too…they gave him this name in their language…I can't remember what it was, but it meant something like 'Devil's Child'. Anyway." He paused to take out some tobacco. Continuing, he said, "He survived living out there, so then he got rescued from the Comanches and hung around for a while. Somewhere in there, he got real good with a gun, 'cause he wound up working for the Rocking W…yes,the Rocking W outfit. First off they said he was there to design their corrals and the like, which he did…and a dang good job of it, too. But then…well, they found a use for his gun slingin' skills. Turned him into somethin' of a hit man…Never convicted, but everyone knew it." He paused to took a swig out of his flask. Evidently he was parched from having to retell the story.

Raoul didn't care. "And.." he prodded.

"And…after a few years, he quit. Pretty much disappeared. No one knows why. Like Luke over there said…some folks figure he got shot up around Dodge. Others say he got hisself a ranch. An' now James says he saw him tonight." The man sat back and sighed,clearly finished with his story. Raoul sat in silence for a moment, letting it sink in. His Christine, with this murderer…Heaven help her. How did she even know a man like that? Surely she had better sense…What if something happened? What could he do? He didn't know where he had taken her, if he was armed, if he had accomplices…Raoul wasn't about to go running into this blindly.

He looked again at the men and tried to feign a look of casual interest. "So…this man…did anyone know his name?"

Zeke spoke again. "I never heard a given name. Mostly, he was just known as the Phantom."

"The Phantom?" Raoul echoed. That was a new one. A lot of gunslingers had nicknames…Kid, Doc, all that kind…but "Phantom" wasn't one he had heard before.

"Yeah…they say he could sneak around an' jus' about anywhere without gettin' caught. No one knew how he did it…One minute he'd be there and the next, he was gone."

"I see," Raoul said, rising stiffly. "I'm off." He headed as if he were going to bed, but he wasn't. Not by a long shot. He wouldn't have been able to sleep, even if he had wanted to. He had too much planning to do.


DUHHHHHHHHHdundundundunDUHHHHHHHHHH...Quite the situation we have brewing here…I don't know, I hate phics where Raoul is just a fop. I hope I'm succeeding in adding some depth to the character…Remember that he's NOT bad-yet-just worried about Christine. Maybe he won't be bad. Who knows? But don't expect that to be the last reference to Erik's past…we still need to hear it from his side!

And about the Comanche's…I sincerely hope I don't offend anyone. The Comanche's did, however, occasionally raid settlers, and I hope to make it clear that I have utmost respect for them. One of my best friends is Nez Perce and I have a bit of Cherokee in me…so believe me, I'm not trying to make them out to be crazy savages, or anything like that.

Hmm. You know, it seems that every time I add a chapter, I fall in love with it, and hate the others I've posted. Hrmph.

Mwah,

Dusty