Chapter Five
Peter
I knew what had happened as soon as I caught sight of Jasper's face and I cussed. If not for me he could have taken Samuel away and he would be safe by now but there was no point in sayin' so, not now. I had called and after a few minutes Flash had come trotting up nuzzling my shoulder and looking for a treat but I had nothing to give him. Still he had waited patiently at my side. With a single nod Jasper helped me up on the back of his mount as mine had no saddle and I was in no state to ride bareback. We rode hard to the west for two hours before stopping at a creek and dismounting so Thunder and Flash who had followed behind quite happily could drink and graze a while. Jasper helped me over to a rock and I sat down wincing as my leg jarred but looking at the dressing he'd put on I could see it wasn't bleeding which was a good sign. He filled his canteen at the creek and after we both had a drink he lit a fire and checked my wound which amazingly was looking better.
"Looks like that surgeon knew what he was talkin' about Jasper."
"Yep, luckily for you."
He made strong coffee and cooked ham and eggs over the fire before sitting down with me to eat. I could tell there was something on his mind but I waited until he was good an' ready.
"What did you think of the story Samuel told of the monsters or demons?"
I shrugged, a mouthful of eggs preventing me answering him straight away, then swallowing it down I spoke,
"Well Sammy has always been a bit odd but he never struck me as being fanciful, not when it came to explaining how his family died. Why? What happened back there?"
"They caught him Peter, caught him and strung him up like a rustler or somethin'."
"Who did? WE should go back and kill the sons O' bitches."
"iTs too late for that Peter. I want the men or monsters who started all this. When I saw the riders leaving, when I found Sammy I coulda sweared one of em, the one who turned around...well, his face kinda glittered just like Sammy said."
I sat up a little straighter, Jasper wasn't one to have fancies no siree, and if he said he saw something I wasn't gonna argue with him.
"So ya think your brother was telling the truth?"
"I think he saw somethin', and tried to explain it the only way he knew how."
"But men with inhuman strength, who sparkle and tear people apart with their bare hands? It sounds like that youngster who came in to camp that time, swore he'd seen the devil with glowing red eyes drinking blood from one of the bodies on the battlefield."
He looked at me and nodded slowly,
"Yeah he did didn't he? And we thought he was just crazy from all the fightin' but what if he wasn't? What if he really saw someone like that?"
"You think there are demons around feeding on the blood of corpses and goin' around killin' people for the fun of it?"
"I don't know Peter but I aim to find out. When we get to the next town I'm gonna leave you with a Doc and go on, see if I can trace these crazies, they don't seem too bothered about hiding their kills."
"And if you find them? What in tarnation are ya gonna do? If they're as strong as he says then they'll just kill you too."
"If they exist they must have a weakness and I aim to find out what it is and kill them, every last one."
"Then I'm a goin' with you, I ain't stayin' behind with no doctor."
"I'll be ridin' hard and it might come to a fight. You can't fight Peter, not with that leg."
"I can watch out though can't I? Sides if you leave me I'll just follow on so you'd be better takin' me with ya."
"OK but if it gets too much you holler Peter."
He knew better than that but I just nodded anyhow and the followin' mornin' we rode on, Flash galloping behind us. We entered town mid afternoon and got rooms for a night washin' up and grabbing a meal at one of several eateries before decidin' the best place to get news was to sit in a saloon and listen. Neither of us were heavy drinkers but we got two beers and found ourselves a spot in the corner of the bar where we could hear the conversations goin' on. That night we heard nothin' but talk about the war endin' and the south losin'. Everyone in the bar was on the Confederate side and felt we'd been sold out. By midnight we were both weary and still saddle sore so we made our way back to the roomin' house and crashed out.
The next mornin' while we were eatin' breakfast we got our first break, one of the other guests, a travelin' salesman started tellin' a tale he'd heard a couple of towns back, of a family wiped out at a remote ranch.
"Way I heard it they was ripped limb from limb, bit all over and no one knows who dun it."
The lady of the establishment went white and clutched her chest as if about to have an attack,
"There's some say its Union soldiers taking their revenge but others have another theory."
He looked us and winked,
"The preacher said it was God's revenge on a sinful family."
"Why'd he say somethin' like that?"
She was indignant now,
"Because..."
He hesitated waiting to get everyone's attention round the table,
"There's talk it was the work of devils with flamin' eyes and hard shinin' skin. I heard someone tried to shoot them and the bullets just bounced off."
"So how did he escape to tell the tale?"
Now she was skeptical,
"That's just it, he didn't, they killed him but he'd writ it all down in a book he kept in his saddle roll. When they went lookin' for him they found the bed roll and that's all but what he'd seen he wrote down. Scary ain't it? I'm headed east away from them whatever they are."
When the salesman left we followed him and offered to buy him a drink and although it was real early he wasn't going to refuse. Once seated in a corner of the newly reopened saloon he took a drink then looked at us through narrowed eyes,
"Well gents I guess you ain't just buying me a drink for my company so what is it you want?"
"Any more on the story you told this mornin' at breakfast."
He laughed and emptied his glass gesturing for me to refill it which I did, not particularly hopeful he could tell us any more but after taking another sip and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he nodded and leaned real close,
"OK, but you understand it's all hearsay, I never see'd the papers myself."
"Never mind, what else did ya hear?"
"They said the only way to kill the demons was to burn them, send em back to hell."
"Was that in the papers or just what they said?"
"I heared it was in the paper but like I said I never read it myself."
We watched him ride off and then headed further west talking as we went, Jasper had bought me a second hand saddle from the Ostler at the stables so I could ride Flash again although it slowed us down somewhat, mind we weren't in any great hurry, we were chasing demons that might not even exist. When we next hit a fair sized town we heard disturbing news about back home. It was news only cause since the treaty the papers needed somethin' to put in their pages and this had just arrived over the wire. Our town, Creek Falls, had been wiped out by Cholera, everyone was dead, most of the bodies burned in a vain attempt to stop the disease spreading but it continued like wild fire, the last report coming from the sheriff's office a week ago then nothing and no one was goin' in to check.
"A tragedy or convenient for someone, no witnesses to what happened Peter."
"You think these demons are to blame? They killed a whole town?"
"Well, there's no one left to tell about the bodies that were found originally now is there?"
He was right but killing off a whole town and not one person surviving to get away and tell the truth? Was that even possible?