Colorado Springs.
This morning I looked around Colorado for a new place and ran into Jake Stone. We talked with another girl named Selena and Drake and we looked at some cabins in town. I told Drake I wasn’t sure what I should do and if I should move or not. Drake and I talked at the saloon and he said he thought that me and Vinny were close, but I told him we’d only had one drink and then I’d never seen him after that.
Georgetown.
I headed home with Drake and showed him the town. We sat on the bench on the balcony and talked about how things had been going lately.
I went over to Velvet’s house and sat with her, talking about how she hadn’t really been around Mesa Verda much and we went to wander over there together. She was nervous and I showed her a good place to find supplies.
We heard someone coming over and noticed he was wearing a badge. “Hello there, Sir,” I greeted him.
“Hello. How are you? Name’s Tom,” he introduced himself.
“Tom, nice to meet ya. I’m Detective Trin Paige. This here’s Velvet.”
“Howdy there Tom. mighty fine to meet ya,” Velvet smiled.
“Hello Trin, Just felt like wandering out here. Chet told me there’s some nice countryside to be seen.”
“Indeed there are. You’re a friend of Chet’s?” I asked him.
“Yes. I’ve known him for a long while. So, you’re a detective?”
“Pinkerton Agent. Was just showin’ Velvet around out here too.”
“Yes, Trin was nice enough to come exploring with me to see a few of the sights,” Velvet blushed a bit.
“Oh, Chet was looking for your agency. He wanted to hire you to find a man. I forget off hand what he said, but you should see him when he gets back into town.”
“Oh? A man, hmm?”
“Yeah, apparently, from what he says, he’s possessed. Says he was eating a table in the saloon, and did some other odd things. Personally I think he got thrown from a horse, and knocked his head off of something, but Chet’s taking the superstitious route.”
“Sounds like quite the character,” I chuckled.
“From what I gather, he lives in the hills somewhere.”
“As they all,” I rolled my eyes. “Best be careful, Velvet. You’re close to the hills, ain’t ya?”
“Hmm, maybe a little too close. I’m still trying to wrap my head around someone trying to eat a table,” Velvet nodded.
“Yeah I can’t quite picture that either. Better not have been the poker table,” I nodded as well.
“I dunno, All i want is to have him brought in, and checked out by the doc. I don’t want him hurting himself, or anyone else,” Tom said.
“I don’t blame you, Tom. I’ll help in whatever way I can. We don’t have a name on him?”
“I can’t play poker to save my life, but sure would make a lot of folks unhappy,” Velvet chuckled.
“You know, I knew the name, but I forgot to write it down. Chet knows it, along with .. oh what’s her name.. I think her last name was Stillwater, or something like that..” Tom tried to think.
“Suzy? Downy?”
“Downy sounds familiar.”
“Downy is Sam’s wife. Suzy is their daughter. All the fun stuff happens when I’m in bed,” I muttered.
“I guess for me as well. I think I have my hands in the flour too much doing all of that baking,” Velvet said.
“She said it was her brother, or something like that. The guy has been acting strange, and displaying odd behaviours. I just don’t want the rest of the town to go on a hunt for him, thinking he is possessed. You know how word spreads,” Tom told us.
“Her brother?” I raised an eyebrow, thinking about what Suzy had once told me, and gasped. “Oh my… You don’t mean…” I muttered, “Not again… Josey Rebel Wasp sound familiar, Tom?”
“He’s done something before?” Tom looked at me. “That’s the guy.”
I sighed and Velvet asked, “Hmm, why does that name sound familiar?”
“Only four people have taken shots at me since I moved to the West back in June. He was one of them,” I said and drank the whiskey from my flask.
“If this guy is dangerous, we need to get a group together to go get him, we should soon. I don’t like guys like that running loose.”
“Chet should know better than to want to hire me on my own,” I sighed.
“Oh goodness, and he could be just wandering around in that state?” Velvet gasped.
“I’m glad you’re here, Tom. I don’t have to fight these ingrates alone anymore,” I looked at him.
“I don’t like it either. He’s gonna be like a hurt animal, Aggressive, and will attack anyone that moves. Yeah, anytime, just come find me if you need my help,” Tom looked at me.
“I plan to. What say we all head home and relax in the saloon? I need to sit,” I looked around. “You gathered enough supplies, Velvet?”
“Sure, I’m ready,” she nodded.
“You okay?” I looked at her.
“That’ll be fine,” Tom said, “I’ll see you there. I was going to try to find chet’s missing ammo pouch out here somewhere. The sheriff in Dodge city gave it to him. Must give him luck or something…”
“Good luck with that. We’ll see you back at the saloon,” I nodded and looked over at Velvet with worry.
“Ok, I’ll see you in a while,” Tom said and headed off as we said goodbye.
“Sure, I’m fine. I was just kind of eyeing those ladders over there and curiosity was getting the better of me,” Velvet chuckled.
“Maybe when Tom gets back we can explore more. Better with the three of us,” I said and we headed back to the saloon, which was all decorated for Valentine’s Day already. I showed her around the new saloon and we got ourselves a couple of glasses of whiskey. We talked about how things had been slow lately and how the dance might help things around town a bit.
“Hope Tom’s okay out there..” I looked over to the door worriedly, wondering what was taking him so long.
“I sure wish I had someone special to bring to the dance though. I think my beau has eyes for someone else,” Velvet said.
“Oh that’s terrible… I’ve no idea who I’ll take. Slade ain’t been around in a while…”
“Well, I suppose it happens a lot. Sure doesn’t make it hurt any less though.”
“Nope. I’m gettin sick of bein loved then left in the dust.”
“Ohh, Slade? Who is that?”
“Was a man I thought who was really interested in me around here but then... he just disappeared. Like all the rest. Guess all I can do is focus on doing my job and doing it well.”
“I guess I can try doing the same. I have a special recipe I’ve been working on, but I haven’t put it in the shop yet. Maybe I’ll whip some up for Valentines.”
“That sounds good, Velvet,” I said and greeted Tom as he walked into the saloon. “All quiet out there?” I asked him.
“Yup, and I was able to find Chet’s ammo pouch, so that’s good. Anything new since i’ve been there? Anyone talking about Joey?”
“Oh good. Nope, no one else been in here but us,” I told him.
“It was like that last night too. this place is quiet. Odd for a saloon.”
“It’s… too quiet,” I sighed. “I feel like they’re letting us all fall asleep from boredom then they’re gonna attack when we’re least prepared for it.”
“How’s the indians? Are they still in an uproar from someone burning down their village?” Tom asked.
“I ain’t the best one to ask. I seem to be dead to them at the moment. Still ain’t sure why,” I shrugged and looked at Tom, wondering just how much he knew.
“What? Someone burned down their village?” Velvet perked.
“I just don’t want to run into any of them while were out. That’s all. I’ve seen what they do,” Tom said.
I sighed and leaned on the counter, drinking my whiskey, I finally changed the subject and asked, “When did this thing with Rebel happen here?”
“That’s the first thing Chet told me about this place after he swore me in. They were like a kicked bee hive. About a day and a half ago.”
I tried to think if I’d seen Chet since then and said, “Last I saw Chet was on Friday. He didn’t mention anything about Reb then and that was in the early afternoon.”
“He may have meant the evening. But it was about a day and a half ago, to two days ago.”
“Possibly happened after that. I’ve been away a bit this weekend visiting friends in Colorado Springs.”
“I just wonder when he’s gonna be back in town. He seemed pretty worried about all of this. He says he saw this first hand. I’m just wondering how drunk he was though..” he chuckled and drank his beer. “I just don’t see the table the guy was chewing.. I’m still doubting the whole thing."
“I don’t know Chet to get drunk…” I wondered.
“You’d have to have some pretty strong teeth to chew up one of these tables though,” Velvet commented. “You don’t suppose he could actually be possessed do you? Boy, that would be something else.”
“I don’t know. One way to find out though.. We need to find him,” Tom said.
“Well, I suppose you do have a point. Seems that’s the best way to know for sure.”
“You’re not doing this alone. I’ll go with you,” I looked at Tom.
“I still doubt it. I’m not into that dark magic smoke and mirrors stuff. I just think he got a bump on the head, Chet’s always been really weird about stuff like this,” Chet said.
I nodded, my mind going in all directions. “I don’t know Chet to lie either. So Tom you comin’ to the Valentine’s banquet?”
“I don’t know. What’s all going to be there?”
“I think Sugar was gonna try to get some entertainment or somethin’... Either someone actually singin’ or someone spinnin’ the record player.”
“That sounds fun enough. I just don’t know what’s going on. I might come.”
“Ya should. Gonna be a good night.”
“It might be fun to get all spiffied up in some fancy duds,” Velvet added.
“Well I think I’m gonna go and get some more writing done,” I said then and stood. “Great to see you Velvet, and nice to meet you, Tom. Hope we see each other again. Let Chet know that I wanna talk to him.”
“It was good to see you Trin, be safe out there,” Velvet said.
“Last night I didn’t sleep so well. I need to get an actual bed. That old cot in the marshal’s office just isn’t doing it. Ok. will do!” Tom said.
“There’s rooms upstairs, Tom. Pretty decent rent too.”
“I’ll take a look at them. I may just do that.”
“I guess I should head out as well. I still need to work on a new recipe I’ve been trying to get right,” Velvet said.
I showed him the way to the hotel rooms and headed to my office.
***
This afternoon I walked into the saloon and smiled seeing Tom. I asked if he’d seen Rebel and he said he hadn’t seen him. “So what’s the plan?”
“Well.. Let’s go try to find him. Maybe we can talk to him. Either that, or find where his camp is.”
“Sounds good to me. Lead the way, boss,” I winked.
“Okay,” he said and we headed out.
When we approached Bear River, I hesitated and told myself I had a job to do. Tom asked about the mountains and I remembered being shot down there by Icca but then showed him an easier way up through the mountains. We looked around and I remembered where Nile and I had gotten shot at by Rebel. I noticed Vito must have moved as the name on the mailbox of his old house was different.
When we reached Silver Plume, we noticed a fire, like a bonfire, set up. “Well, there’s a fire there. Someone’s down there,” Tom commented.
“Tom, wait,” I stopped him.
“What’s up?”
“We don’t know if he’s alone.”
“Well, at least we found something. What should we do now? Any ideas?”
“I want to come out with more people,” I looked at him. “At least with Chet, it would be three on one. If he’s alone.”
“That will work. You want to sneak across the bridge? It looks to be quicker to get back to town..”
“Sure,” I nodded.
“We’ll just walk normally but quickly across. Just like anyone else would,” he said and we headed back towards town.
I saw Chet in front of the offices and greeted him, noticing Tom wasn’t behind me anymore as I told him, “Tom.. he was just here.. I thought he was behind me.”
“Knowing Tom he saw a squirrel ’n decided he was hungry.”
“We were up in the mountains looking for Rebel,” I chuckled.
“That man is dangerous. Did ya bring protection? ’N I don’t mean guns.”
“We found his camp I think,” I chuckled.
We greeted a man I’d recognized from in the cemetery the other day and he asked if there was any bounties. He said his name was Jonah Hex and we introduced ourselves.
“Ya bring in anyone of reputation before?” Chet asked him.
“I’ve done many in my lifetime.”
I saw Tom and smiled, “There you are. Bout time you caught up.”
“There’s everyone,” Tom smiled.
“You find a squirrel or somethin’?” I winked at Tom.
“Naw. had to do some business, and paperwork.”
“Uh huh,” I chuckled.
“We have a man we are looking for,” Chet told Jonah. “Iccabod. Two hundred reward for him, as well as Jesse James.”
“Got any pictures?” Jonah asked.
“No, reckon we don’t. I am afraid office got blown up a while back.”
“Then there is very little I can do,” Jonah nodded.
“You can help us find the man we’re goin after right now,” I suggested and looked at the others.
“Well I have lost my irons on the back of a freight box on the ride here. So I must by some new ones,” Jonah said.
“Yeah. Let’s go get him. Now is he being charged with anything?” Tom asked.
“Well it’s a delicate situation,” Chet said. “Man not wanted for any crime but… Man is possessed, we believe, by evil spirit. He ate a wood table and grew his neck.”
I looked over at Tom, still suspicious of Chet’s account. “So what’s our plan here?”
“So miss Trin, you have any holy water on you and a Bible?” Chet asked.
I sighed and looked at Tom, “Help me out here, Tom?”
“Let Chet try using that stuff. Won’t hurt none.”
“Whose side are you on?” I sighed.
“Well, we’ll get him first,” Tom laughed.
“Yeah, that’s the first challenge,” I chuckled.
“I am not saying I fully believe the story,” Chet said, “But Downy was a witness ’n if he isn’t, it not gonna hurt anyone. And if in case he is, better be safe than sorry. ’n Deputy, I ordering ya to get some holy water.”
Jonah came back and said, “I’ll have to save up for some guns… In the mean time I’ll just have to get close,” he showed us a Confederate blade.
“Shall we boys?” I looked around.
“Now sir, we ain’t shooting or cutting this man,” Chet told him.
“What if he shoots at us first?” I asked.
“Shoot em back,” Tom shrugged.
“Just sayin’…” I looked at Tom. “It’s gonna happen.”
“If he shoots at us first, yes we shoot back. But I am hoping to get close enough to him to put holy water on him.”
“Uh huh,” I sighed.
“Now person we looking for is named Rebel. I guess we start looking for him,” Chet said.
We over to Silver Plume and drew our guns, just in case. We told Jonah about Rebel and he seemed to recognize the name. He said that he knew Rebel as a soldier who was on his side in the war. Chet warned that Rebel was just suffering from rabies, so in that case we should be ready for a proper burial. Jonah insisted that he couldn’t go against Josey Wales as he fought on the same side he did.
“I will not be a traitor to my men or fallen men,” Jonah insisted.
“We aren’t going to shoot him. We just aren’t sure what he’s gonna do to us,” Tom assured.
“I’m gonna stay up here with my sniper just in case,” I said, taking the higher ground.
“We are to make sure he doesn’t get shot,” Chet reminded us.
“Well I never met the man, so I reckon I’ll meet him. But I will not aid in captivity. In fact, I should tell him to run,” Jonah said.
“The war was a long time ago, Sir,” I looked at Jonah.
“We want to get him checked out. We don’t want him hurting himself, or others,” Tom said.
“If he shoots at us, we shoot him only then,” Chet agreed.
“He’s a good ol’ rebel like myself. They don’t harm none for no reason.”
We talked about how Rebel was underneath the bridge by the train tracks and I stayed on the hill, pointing my gun at Rebel when I saw him. Jonah told Josey to run and I swore under my breath. As the others talked with Rebel as he ran I kept my aim focused on Rebel. I started to count in my head while waiting for something to happen. Jonah saluted I rolled my eyes as the others returned.
“That was anticlimactic,” I muttered.
“Well, at least his skin didn’t boil. Told ya Chet,” Tom said.
“All that worry for nothin’, Chet?” I winked at him.
“Man’s not possessed. All’s okay.” He threw a fist towards Jonah and said, “Ever do that again fist won’t be all ya get.”
I swallowed hard and stood close to Tom as Jonah faced Chet. “Don’t try me marshal.”
“Chet, be good. No harm was done.... this time,” Tom warned. I thought to myself it was still uncharacteristic of Rebel to do nothing but I didn’t say anything.
“Yer lucky I don’t haul yer ass into jail,” Chet glared at Jonah. “I understand loyalty, which is why I ain’t. And also yer paying yer fine for it tonight.”
“Chet, if he starts fighting you, I ain’t seppin’ in,” Tom said.
Jonah tried to push Chet down the hill and then walked off, swearing, “Must be a damn Yankee.”
I watched Jonah walk off and shook my head. Tom and I walked back to town and I checked the bank door and vault, which were now sealed closed.
Chet walked back over to us from the office and said, “Well that went well. Tom, keep an eye on Mr. Hex. He so much as spits, I want him arrested.”
“Well, we still need to be fair. He is a citizen you know.”
“Miss Trin, what ya think of the events?” Chet asked as I sat down in his desk.
“I think that was rather uncharacteristic of the Rebel I know. The Rebel I know would use any chance he got to start a gunfight,” I told him.
“Well least we know not possessed. Maybe he a changing his ways. Said he slept off his sickness.”
“Sorry, just don’t believe that one for a second,” I laughed.
“Don’t be laughing, woman. It can happen. Why in ol’ Concord I was on other side of badge n look at me now. Ask Tom.”
“And I agree, anyone who will tell Rebel to run is not on my to be trusted list.” I sighed, remembering TJ and how he couldn’t stay away from being an outlaw, even though he was a judge.
Tom muttered about the broken clock on the wall and took out his gun to shoot it. I jumped and looked over as he said, “Ok, it’s working.”
“Geez, Tom. Gonna give a woman a heart attack.”
“Tom, I have a hankering to throw ya in the cell ya do that again,” Chet said and I laughed.
“What, the damn clock was broke. I had to fix it. The quick way.”
“Men,” I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t make me show Trin how ya can dance,” Chet took out his guns and pointed them at Tom’s feet.
“Now, now…” I stood.
“I wouldn’t… I got steel toe shoes,” Tom looked at Chet.
“Ya’ll gonna get all testosterony let me get out of the office first,” I glared at them both.
“I only joking pretty lady. I’d not show ya his squirrel dance,” Chet laughed and I glared at him. “But to serious matters, I never gonna hire this Hex to bounty hunt for this office. Can’t trust him.”
“I don’t blame ya, Chet. I wouldn’t either.”
I showed Tom my office and house then and we went to gather more supplies for making traps as Chet headed home.
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