Chapter 185
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John Bly strongly suspected that Biscoe's friend lord Bowler had been the man who accompanied him to Hell, but Briscoe refused to confirm this. Bly was okay with this, for awhile. He and his men enjoyed torturing Briscoe, enjoyed how he also suffered at seeing Dixie suffer. But after a few hours, the torture got boring. Bly decided to take a little break, let Briscoe and Dixie suffer some at the thought of what might come next.
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Dixie: I'm impressed, you didn't give up your friends.
Briscoe: They probably fled when they realized we'd been captured.
Dixie: Actually I figure Bowler's thinking of how to get you out. That is one of your friends right?
Briscoe: Yeah. To be honest I'm suprised they didn't come rushing in. I know Bowler's only one man, but Wanda has powers.
Dixie: So does Bly. Those orbs you were all so obsessed with, he has one.
Briscoe: Amazing how they or some version of them, has survived in Hell.
Dixie: Don't ask me how any of this stuff works. I had more than a few preachers tell me that my "sinful" life would land me in Hell. They were partly correct, now a lot of them are Bly's best customers.
Briscoe: The orbs, is that how Bly forces you to stay?
Dixie: That's part of it. He also has my sister Dolly. Keeps us locked in different rooms, never lets us both out at the same time.
Briscoe: I'm sorry. I promise we wont leave without her.
Dixie: I believe you. I don't have much hope of ever leaving here, but I'm sure you'll try. And that means a lot.
Briscoe: Just hope that Bowler helps make it true.
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Wanda didn't know much about these orbs, but clearly Bly had some sort of power under his control. Something that prevented them from using her powers against him. As much as Bowler wanted to just rush in and rescue them, they were greatly outnumbered. They needed a better plan. They knew that, in Hell, old friends and old enemies easily found their way back to each other. By covertly listening they learned that Bly's enemies had been driven to the mountains, hopefully they would run into some old friends. At the very least they would have a common enemy in Bly. Bowler and Wanda made their way to the mountains, Bowler could sense they were being watched.
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Bowler: My name is Lord Bowler! I'm an enemy of John Bly, hear you are too.
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Within a few minutes some of Bowler's old friends made themselves known. Whip Morgan, sheriff Viva, Crystal Hawkins, even Pete Hutter.
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Viva: Good to see you again Bowler, who's your friend?
Wanda: I'm Wanda. You look like Elvis.
Viva: Who?
Wanda: He was a singer in the 1950s.
Viva: I like to think I play a mean guitar myself. Was his main sin gluttony as well?
Wanda: And drugs.
Viva: I don't touch that stuff.
Bowler: You sure you can trust Pete here?
Pete: It is true, I am always in it for myself. I thought I was safe, kept avoiding death.
Bowler: Yeah, never did figure out how you kept coming back from the dead.
Wanda: I remember speaking to this scientist, Harry Wells, he said that it has to do with the arrangement of particles, essentially it made it seem like some people like Pete, or like Maxwell Smart, had an excessive amount of good luck.
Bowler: I do remember father Lucci explaining how he and some others did all that on purpose. I guess it does make some sense.
Pete: Anyway, it has become clear that my good luck has it's limits. My only hope of avoiding an even worse world than this one, of getting into Heaven, is to be a good person.
Bowler: That can't be easy, I mean you pretty much broke every law of God and man.
Pete: I feel I should say that I never forced any woman to have sex with me. They all let me...
Bowler: And you always paid them.
Pete: I have also never violated any agricultural quarantine laws. I realize I have a long ways to go. Maybe helping you rescue my former enemy is a good step in the right direction.
Bowler: We do need all the help we can get. And if these people trust you, you can ride in front of me.