Hallowed Ground

by David Niall Wilson

  Just before he reached the tree line, a flash of lightning lit the sky. His horse shied, and as he fought it for control, something big and dark launched from the trees to his right. Huge wings beat the air and he heard an unearthly cry that nearly unseated him. His horse fought his control, wheeled in a circle and turned his back to the sound.

  He spun the animal back with a grunt and stared upward as the largest owl he'd ever seen took flight. It glittered silver in a second flash of lightning, and was gone, soaring into the clouds before the thunder followed the flash.

  "Jesus wept," Creed said. He turned away from the trees and spurred his horse forward. It was an hour to Rookwood, and the first heavy, wet splashes of rain dropped around him and slapped him in the face. The sky was as black as death, and his mind was filled with the sound of beating wings.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Deacon sat in a leather chair built into the framework of his wagon. On the table at his side was a cut glass tumbler half full of golden brown whiskey. On his lap he held a book. It was a very old book, bound in leather with age-yellowed pages. A dark ribbon bookmark dangled off the end of the spine, where it had been bound in when the pages were sewn.

  On the floor, Colleen slept, the child nestled against her tightly, wrapped in rough blankets with a rolled jacket for a pillow. From time to time The Deacon glanced down at them. His smile was grim – the upward turn of his lip unfamiliar and alien after so long.

  He had carefully wrapped the leather pouch in dark silk. The silk had been embroidered with symbols and words in a pattern he'd purchased from a toothless old witch several months back. When he wrapped it, it slept, but not for long. Every time he did it, he wondered if it would be his last. If he waited too long, or it sensed his intent, he doubted the pain would stop at burning his flesh.

  He hadn't touched the book on his lap since the last time he'd wrapped the talisman, but he knew it was time. He read quickly. The book had come from the pastor of a church back east. The man had been old, and his mind wandered. The book had been his responsibility for half a century, and none had stepped forward to take his place. He had come to The Deacon in the hope he might be healed – that the ravages of age could be wiped from his emaciated frame to leave him healthy enough to carry on.

  The book held power, and the power was dangerous. The man had feared for his soul – feared deeply enough he was willing to remain behind when his own call to glory was at hand if it meant fulfilling his duty. The Deacon had lent a conciliatory shoulder. He'd gone through the motions of the healing, but kept the old man as far from the talisman as possible. After the ceremony failed, it was only a matter of days.

  On his deathbed, the priest confessed his mission to The Deacon. He passed on a wooden box, carefully locked. Inside, the book was bound in similar silk to the strip that now bound the talisman. That first night, when the old man had died and The Deacon made off with his prize, was almost the last night.

  The book was alive to the touch. The Talisman had sensed its presence and searched his flesh. It leapt against the material of his jacket, stretching out toward the musty tome as though they were opposite poles of a magnet. It had taken all his strength to fold the cloth back over the book and slam the box shut.

  Study, bribes, payments he could ill afford, and great risk had brought him to the old woman and the dark silk. He remembered her eyes – the coarse, leathery feel of her skin as she stroked his cheek – and the deep, hollow tones of her laughter. Even now the thought of her price ran through his blood like ice water.

  But the book – that book – was worth the pain. It was worth the corruption. It was worth any price. What he'd waited for was the proper time to use it – the right reason to risk … everything. The page he'd opened it to held a ritual, penned in even, symmetrical letters. He read it, and then read it again, though the words burned into his mind on the first pass. He started to go over it a third time – felt a twitch within the black silk, and slammed the covers closed. He wrapped the book and closed it in its box, then knelt on the floor, reached up under the frame of his chair, and slid it onto its hidden shelf.

  He unwrapped the talisman quickly and rested it against the thundering beat of his heart. It pulsed, warmed, and then settled. With a sigh, he dropped back into the leather seat, downed the whiskey, and slumped against the wall. He was tired, but the day was upon him. It was going to be a long one.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Creed's rooms were dank and drafty. The tattered rags he had nailed up to serve as makeshift curtains dangled crookedly across the windows. Rain pelted the cracked panes of glass in uneven, fitful rhythms. It sounded like handfuls of grave dirt being thrown at the windows. The room was sparsely furnished with a cot that held his bedroll, a table with one leg propped by a block of wood, and two straight backed chairs. Creed had his oil lamp on the table, which he'd pulled up close to the fire. Beside the lamp’s brass base he'd placed the black feather, and emptied out the contents of the woman's pack.

  There was also a dingy bottle half full of rot-gut bourbon. A tumbler with three fingers of the amber poison sat next to the bottle, but Creed ignored it, for the moment. There wasn't much in the old pack. The leather was worn, and the straps wouldn't have lasted very many more journeys without snapping. Wherever she'd carried it from, the road had not been an easy one. There were six treasures inside; a journal, bound with a red ribbon; a small bottle of ink and a quill pen; a purse with a few coins in it; a compact that opened on a tiny mirror; and a soft, silk dress rolled up carefully so that it would fit in the small bag.

  Creed reached for the bourbon, took a sip, and tried not to think about the empty tents with their torn canvas, the winged – thing – he'd seen in the trees – or the image of The Deacon rising over the woman's thin, wasted body with that mewling, crying creature clutched tightly in his hands. Not thinking about it was impossible, though.

  He took a longer drink, set the glass on the table and reached for the journal. The knot in the ribbon was not too tight. He tugged it free gently, not sure why he was being so careful with a dead woman's belongings.

  "What’s your story then?" He said, almost reverentially.

  Provender Creed was one of the few men in Rookwood who could read. He'd been raised on The Bible, and before coming west, he'd worked a spell at a newspaper back east. There were a few books in town, and he'd borrowed and read each one in its turn. Then he'd read them all again.

  Holding a new, unknown book would have been magic enough in its own right. Holding the last record of this mystery woman transformed the dreary hotel room to another place altogether. He was afraid to turn the first page. If there was nothing inside, or only a few hastily scribbled notes – the moment would be ruined. As long as he held the unopened book in his hand, it was a tiny universe of potential. The fire popped. Creed shook his head, as if rattling the cobwebs loose, and opened the journal.

  He thumbed through the first few pages. Each was crammed full from margin to margin with spidery, elegant script. The letters were small enough that more than once he had to squint to make them out, but the lines were even – almost eerily precise. Creed flipped to the last page. The final entry was dated six months in the past. Whatever the purpose of this journal had been, either she'd given it up when the pages ran out, or she'd carried it for some other reason. Creed turned back a couple of pages and began to read.

  "17 May

  I have never felt so ill. My hand shakes as I write this, but I feel that if I fail to record my hours and days, I may blow away, forgotten by this world and the next. Benjamin is with me every moment possible, but when he is here I see my own face through his eyes, and it frightens me.

  Father will not come near. He says that he fears I have been inhabited by an evil spirit, but I know the truth, and I do not blame him. He fears the consumption. He believes that I will pass my sickness to him, and that he – too – will wither and die. I do not want others to suffer, but I am glad for Benjamin's
company.

  He listens to my dreams, and holds my hand. He does not shy away from me, though I am certain I must have the pallor of death himself to my cheeks. He is warm where I grow so cold. He has promised to stay with me forever, and though I know it is a promise no man can keep, it is also a promise that only true love would attempt. Forever is not so long now, I fear.

  Sometimes I wish that God would take me and bring and end to his suffering, as well as my own. I believe he has a destiny, and I do not want to anchor him against it.

  28 May

  I am much weaker. Benjamin still comes to me and comforts me, but he has grown distracted. There is a shadow on his face, and across his heart, and I fear that it is more than my illness that troubles him. He won't worry me, and so he tells me nothing except how beautiful I am, which is a lie and not even a sweet one now. I feel so tired deep down in my bones and he still talks of how we will soon be together in the big white house by the church. I do not know how he can lie to himself so convincingly, but I love him for it.

  Our wedding was to take place in less than a week's time, and though my father would be angered to hear it, I have spent several days and nights in that house already. Benjamin often speaks of children. I burn to tell him what I know but fear that he would do something rash. Each time I draw a breath I'm afraid that it will be my last, and it is difficult now to keep my eyes from closing. I believe that soon I will sleep and never wake.

  I will take my secret to the grave."

  Here, the journal fell silent for nearly a week. A single entry was centered near the middle of the next page, written in a different hand.

  "These are the words of one loved beyond life. May she rest in peace – Benjamin Jamieson."

  Creed stared at the book. Something about that last inscription slid through him like the steel of a cold blade. He reached for his drink. His hand brushed the silk dress and it unrolled slightly. As it did, he saw a silver chain poking out from one of the folds. Drink forgotten, he laid the journal aside and reached for the dress, unrolling it so that it fell open across his lap.

  There was a seventh treasure: in the center, nestled into the deep blue material, lay an ornate locket. He picked it up, turned it over in his fingers a couple of times, and then flicked the release with his thumb. It opened to reveal two tiny, exquisitely detailed portraits, one on either side. On the left was a young man, well dressed and very proper. Even on such a small scale it was obvious the artist had captured a glint of humor in the eyes. Across from this, on the right, Creed met the painted gaze of the woman from the camp. She was dressed in lacey finery. Her hair was intricately bound up with ringlets dangling over her ears and a single loose curl in the center of her brow. Creed was not certain how he knew this tiny face belonged to his mystery woman, but he had not a shred of doubt.

  His fingers trembled. In the center of the locket there was a third oval, solid silver, that the two sides folded over, and inside that, judging by the portraits, a lock of the man’s hair. Inscribed on the surface was "B.J. & E.T Forever"

  He thought back to the Journal. If this had belonged to Elizabeth, then that put a name to his mystery woman beyond doubt. But where was this Benjamin of hers? There had been no sign of him at the trappers’ camp. And that begged the question: why did the entries in the journal end six months in the past? And why was the final entry an epitaph?

  Almost without thinking, Creed snapped the locket closed and slipped the chain up and over his head . He pulled his collar out and slid the cool silver pendant down beneath his shirt, where it nestled against his chest. He rolled the dress up carefully and tucked it back into the pack, and then tied the ribbon back around the journal, being as careful as possible to match the original knot. It was almost superstitious precaution, but it was a dead woman's journal and anything less seemed somehow wrong.

  When the remaining treasures had been returned to the pack he took another long drink of bourbon. The black feather still lay on the table. He studied it. When he'd first picked it up, he'd assumed it belonged to the owl he'd heard, but looking at it now it was obviously no owl feather. It was deep black, like a raven, or a crow, but too large to have come from either one. He reached out and ran his finger over it, then recoiled.

  Rather than the soft, silky sensation he'd expected, his finger came away sticky, as though it had been coated in some sort of oil. He still had the crow's feather he'd found outside The Deacon's tent. It had no such taint.

  Wind whipped bullets of rain into his window in a sudden loud crash of sound. Creed jumped back, nearly toppling the table and its contents. The feather fluttered to the floor. He watched it, but made no move to pick it up.

  Something heavy thumped into the wall outside. He thought it was probably one of the loose, half-rotted shutters, but it didn't change the queasy sensation of dread that spread from his racing heart out through his limbs. He rose, tucked the pack underneath his bedroll where anyone breaking in would not immediately catch sight of it, and headed for the door.

  Before he stepped into the hall he straightened his gun belt and let his hand rest on the butt of his pistol. He stood very still and listened, though he wasn't sure if he was listening for sounds in the hall, or outside his window. He sensed the feather on the floor behind him, but did not turn to look. He was almost superstitiously afraid that if he did, it wouldn't be there.

  The hallway was empty. On a stormy night only the regulars would make their way to the saloon. Silas would be in a foul mood with sales down, and Mae had been in a state since Colleen up and moved in with The Deacon out at his camp.

  The only one that seemed unaffected by the change was McGraw. The old man pounded out what might have served as a jaunty melody to an empty room, earning his one beer an hour with gusto and competing with the slashing, windblown rain for attention. The rain and wind even served to fill in some of the ghost notes. Creed thought about McGraw's maimed hands.

  He'd never given it much thought, but now he wondered what had happened. After seeing all the freaks in The Deacon's entourage, he'd grown particularly sensitive to missing body parts. The missing notes in the melody, a thing that he'd long grown accustomed to, were jarring. Listening to it now, the eight-finger boogie sounded more like an off-key dirge.

  Silas stood behind the bar, half-heartedly polishing a dusty glass with a dirty rag. Mae sat on a stool across from him, one leg crossed over the other in a way that hiked her skirt up so most of her thigh showed. She was all business as she glanced up hopefully at the sound of his footsteps, but scowled and turned back to the bar when she saw Creed.

  Creed ignored her. He stepped to the end of the bar and leaned on the counter. A moment later, Silas wandered down to him.

  "Give me bourbon, Silas," he said.

  "You took a bottle up two hours ago," Silas observed.

  Creed glanced up at the bartender for the first time. "I said give me a bourbon, I didn’t ask when was the last time I had a drink," he said. He stared at Silas, and whatever devils lingered in his gaze were enough to turn the other man away, fast.

  A moment later the glass Silas was polishing thumped onto the bar, and a big splash of whiskey washed away the dust.

  Creed took the glass, turned away without a backward glance, and stepped out the front door. He stood beneath the awning of the porch, staring out across the rain-swept streets and the roofs of buildings toward Dead Man's Gulch. Rain worked its way in to sting his face now and again. He had to straighten his hat to keep it from taking flight. The cold silver of the locket rested like a shard of ice against his heart.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Deacon strode to the front of the tent, turned, cracked his knuckles and rested his hands on the podium. The pews were filled with the faithful. No seat was ever empty when The Deacon called them. That was his gift: when he spoke the children of the flesh wanted to hear and the aged souls wanted to listen. There were regular services, of course. There were times for worship, and for prayer. There were
times for devotion, but this was different. He had called them, but this was a gathering of his travelling community. There would be no prayers. It was a rare occurrence, and when it happened, it was never good.

  Outside, the wind whipped rain against the sides of the tent, drumming like a tombstone chorus on the canvas walls. The roar of rainfall through the gulch was as loud as a white water river. The tent’s guide ropes sang in the grip of the wind, like the bowing of the strings on some gigantic instrument. The Deacon listened to the storm. The poles creaked and groaned desperately. For a moment, as the wood’s protests grew even more strained, it seemed as though it would wrench the great pole from the ground and cast them all into darkness. It did not. In the distance, thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed far above, and one of the trees on the ridge was reduced to ash. The fragrance of ozone laced the air. It was the smell of miracles, the Deacon thought to himself, smiling.

  "I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice," The Deacon said. "I know you have your own work to complete, and of course your own lives to live. I appreciate that, I surely do, but there is a darkness sweeping down on us like a rushing tide. There is a shadow in the desert, larger and darker than any crow, and it has set the sights of its dark guns on our small haven here, and on our faith." He knew how to talk to a crowd, how to play them. He knew who to look for and how to read the signs of trouble as well as any tracker.

  "I have watched over you as my own children," he said. "I have cared for you and fed you. I have guided you from sinner to sinner and soul to soul, sometimes drawing others into our fold, other times bidding our brethren adieu.