Chapter 4

Teaspoon walked down the street two weeks later after leaving Thompkins store. He chewed his piece of candy as he walked along. He couldn't stop thinking about the past attacks. Could it be a man with an animal? Or just a random animal that needed to be taken down? There had been no attacks the last few days. He wondered if it had moved on like before. He felt antsy as the sun was beginning to set on another day. He walked along tipping his hat at the ladies when he heard his name.

"Teaspoon! Ya old goat! How are ya?"

"Carson? Carson Whitaker? It's good to see ya!"

Teaspoon stepped over to shake hands with his old friend.

"Looks like someone has been eating well." Laughed Carson as he poked Teaspoon's belly.

"Looks like someone has got a few more wrinkles than I remember!" Laughed Teaspoon.

"What can I say? The years have been flying by."

"Sure have. See my letter peeked some interest."

"You can say that. Got somewhere we can talk privately."

"This way."

Troy the old trapper sat in the corner of his small cabin. He closed his eyes trying to shut out the fear. The smell filled his nostrils as he cowered in the dark corner. He trembled but tried to hold his gun. He heard it breathing heavily right outside.

"Please, please, please." He whispered.

He flinched hearing its long fingernails run along the logs of his small shack. Scraping, scraping, scraping. It circled him as he sat shaking. He could hear the deep rumble of its voice. He held his breath as everything suddenly grew quiet. He opened his eyes and glanced around. He could still smell it. He squeezed his eyes shut again and pleaded silently for his safety. He felt a brisk wind swirl close to his face. He could feel the sweat rolling off his forehead and dripping onto his chest. He opened his eyes again expecting to see it, but it wasn't there.

"Thank God." He whispered as the single lantern suddenly went out.

As darkness engulfed the cabin, he tried to control the rapid pace of his heart as a sound unlike any other filled the air. He frantically searched the dark interior of his cabin. He felt something brush his foot as it quickly moved away. It was inside. It was here. He tried to push himself further into the corner as he closed his eyes. He felt warmth then, on his face. He cracked his eye open to see glowing red eyes at the tip of his nose. His scream filled the stillness of the night as his finger pulled the trigger.

Teaspoon and his family sat around the table listening to Carson's tales of adventure. He definitely could spin a tale as both he and Teaspoon laughed. Rachel cleared the dishes away as the laughter died.

"So, let's get down to business. What was it about my letter that seemed to catch your interest enough to prompt a visit?"

"Let me get my things and I will show you."

Teaspoon looked at the faces of all his riders as Carson pulled a briefcase out from his things.

"There are some things that you will not understand. Please just hear me out."

"Carson, old friend, I know how you have always had your theories but….."

"Teaspoon, they aren't theories. Some of them have proved to be true."

Teaspoon smiled as he shook his head. "Go on."

"There was a sighting in Boston about two years ago. A thing. Not an animal yet not a person. It was tall. Described as being well over seven feet. It had black hair all over and walked on two feet. There had been several reports of attacks in the area. One man claimed to have seen it and got a shot off."

"Well, they killed it then." Said Jimmy.

"No. All they found as they tracked it was a shot businessman. The shot to the man was told to be in the same place as the shot given to the creature."

"So?" Asked Kid.

"So, a few months later, there was another spotting. This time down in Georgia. Again, the attacks were happening. They blamed it on a big cat. The few that saw it described the same beast. This was around the time that I got wind of the story. I traveled to Georgia to investigate it myself. What I found appalled me. Men were shredded and their hearts taken."

"Just like the men here, Teaspoon." Said Noah looking skittish.

"Now hold on, it could just be a coincidence." Said Teaspoon trying to settle everyone down.

Carson kept laying out newspaper articles and notes that he had taken on the table. He even had a picture that he had drawn of the creature based on other's descriptions.

"I lost track of it months ago. There were no more sightings so unfortunately, I returned home disheartened until I received your letter. It has returned."

"Returned?" Asked Cody.

"Yes. The last encounter with a horse trader claimed that he again shot it in a frenzy. The man unfortunately passed away due his injuries from the creature so I could not find out anything further."

"So, by now, it has got to be dead." Yawned Jimmy.

"Not in the least."

"So, what exactly is your thoughts on this escapade?" Asked Teaspoon.

"It is a human. A man inhabited by evil. The man does its bidding. Keeps it alive. When the inhabited is injured and dying, I believe that it travels along until it finds another to take over."

"Why the heart?" Asked Buck.

"Because that is all that it hears in the night. It hears the rapid heartbeat of its prey as they panic in fear. It draws it in. It takes the heart. The life of that person."

"What does it want? What is it looking for?" Lou asked scared.

"I wish I knew that part. I wish I knew."

"How do you intend to kill it?"

"Kill it? I aim to catch it."