by Brenda, Lady
Maybe if she detached herself? Pretended she was reading the cards the cards for a stranger?
Esmeralda picked up her tarot deck. She shuffled then lay a down a few only to gather them up again in frustration. She needed an objective view, a fresh look in to the situation and she had heard that Grandmother Woo was a powerful seer. She dressed hastily in a fashionable jade-green walking-dress and matching parasol and then left the salon to make her way down to Chinatown.
When she arrived at the herbalist shop she was not welcomed with open arms but rather with an air of resignation. Grandfather Woo was nowhere in sight and it was a young teenage boy that met her at the door.
“I have come to see Grandmother Woo, I need her to see for me.”
The boy bowed low. “Yes Missy, you come, Grandmother will see you.” He led her through the shop and behind the beaded curtain to the treatment room. Grandmother was there, sitting on a low stool in the corner drinking tea from a delicate china cup as she wrote Chinese characters on a long scroll of paper. She looked up but her face remained expressionless when she saw Esmeralda.
The young boy gestured for Esmeralda to sit down on a low pallet across from Grandmother. The old Chinese woman nodded at her then spoke to the young man in rapid Chinese. “Grandmother says she knows why you are here; she says she will read for you,” he translated.
Grandmother got up from her stool, walked over to Esmeralda and made a gesture for her to remove her hat. Esmeralda removed her hat pins and placed the hat on the pallet. Grandmother placed her hands on Esmeralda’s curls and delicately felt her head and scalp.
She spoke to the boy.
“Grandmother says you have Buddha bumps, very auspicious, you have much wisdom, very smart. Too many bumps, you are not lucky in love.”
The old woman nodded then moved away. She picked up a bamboo cylinder and shook it. A few long sticks slid out onto the floor mat. They looked like chopsticks but were covered with Chinese symbols and letters.
“They are known as Kua Cim or Chi Chi sticks,” the boy said.
Then Grandmother looked intently at Esmeralda. She spoke softly almost a whisper.
“What does she say?” Esmeralda asked.
The young man bowed his head. “She say the man you love has been with you for many lifetimes, his destiny is hard, cursed by the gods. On the next full moon he will follow you into the belly of the demon and only one of you will come out alive.”
Esmeralda gasped. “What does she mean? What Dragon?”
Grandmother shook her head and backed away. The young man made her a short bow. “You go now, missy.”
Esmeralda fished a gold coin out of her purse and handed it to him. She needed to know more but could sense that Grandmother would not be forthcoming. Esmeralda put her hat on secured it with a gold hatpin and walked out of the shop.
She didn’t look back, but once she was outside on the street, tears burned behind her eyes and her corset felt like a vise. She’d vowed that she would not shed a tear for him but was betrayed by the watery flow that blurred her vision and ran in rivulets down her cheeks. She reached into her reticule and took out a lace handkerchief and dried her eyes.
This needed to end now!
Esmeralda took a deep breath and walked in the direction of the train depot. She would buy a ticket out of this godforsaken town today without delay.
I will stop the dreadful tendrils of fate from ensnaring us. This way Devlin will survive, she thought.
She hurried over to E Street. The train was just pulling in as she reached the ticket office.
“Where to?” asked the clerk.
“San Francisco,” she said. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Big Jim Diamond stroll past her towards the train platform. She paused and looked at him.
“Miss?”
She backed away from the window. She watched as a large man in a buffalo hide coat stepped off the train to meet Big Jim. “Oh my God!” Her heart thumped rapidly she knew that foul, subhuman excuse for a man. Devlin had killed him! She was sure of it! Terror filled her breast and she gathered up her reticule and fled.
Once she reached her house on B Street she called immediately for Jamie.
“Yes, Ma’am?” He hesitated and then asked, “Are you okay?”
Esmeralda scribbled a note on a piece of paper.
“Jamie, I want you to take this to Devlin Winter.”
Jamie frowned. “Are you sure Ma’am?”
“Please, Jamie, do as I ask.”
Jamie beat it down to the boardwalk. He asked around from saloon to saloon until he finally came upon Devlin, in the Silver Queen, playing poker with a couple of cowboys.
Devlin looked up from his cards as Jamie burst into the room and then came over to his table. He knew the boy had no love for him so his Angel must have sent him. His thoughts were confirmed when Jamie thrust a crumpled piece of paper at him.
“Miss Esmeralda sent me with this note fer ya.”
Devlin took the paper. He scanned it briefly. Peabody alive? He had personally driven a stake through that animal’s heart himself, that son of a bitch should have stayed dead and saved him the trouble of having to kill him twice. He tucked the note into his vest pocket and poured himself another shot of whiskey.
Jamie waited for an answer.
“Tell Miss Esmeralda thank you for the warning.” He casually dealt another hand. Jamie nodded and left the saloon. Devlin played the cards without thought to where they might lie.
The fact that Peabody’s alive leaves me with only one conclusion. There is a new sinister twist to this battle. Just how can Walking Ghost and myself triumph over these new enemies? he thought.
An hour later he gathered up his winnings and headed out to the boardwalk. The sun was still high in the sky; he had to force himself not to walk up to B Street to the Emerald Salon. He turned instead and headed down in the direction of his railcar. Once inside he went straight to his bedroom. On the wall opposite the bed was a bookcase filled with well-worn volumes. He placed his hand under the corner of the bookcase and pushed on the hidden lever. The bookcase swung aside to reveal a shallow cabinet filled with weapons; a fascinating array from seventeenth century matchlock muskets and pistols to claymores and samurai swords. A collection gleaned from a life cursed with violence. A primitive blood lust filled his veins at the anticipation of the battle to come. He felt confident in his mini-arsenal and gathered together an armload of swords and pistols. He then closed the door to the secret compartment back up again.
He felt his time with Esmeralda had changed the course of this battle. Before he had fought to die a mortal death now he fought to live.
Peabody be damned!
“Tell me what you know of Devlin Winter. No one stands between me, and what is mine. I want him dead,” Big Jim said.
Lance Peabody slouched in a chair across from Big Jim. He spit, expertly, into a brass spittoon. He chuckled.
“You ain’t got no idea what yer up agin, he ain’t a man that’s fer sure.”
Big Jim sat back in his chair. “I know what he’s supposed to be, the undead, a goddamn vampire.”
Lance snorted. “Him an me’s got a score ta settle. Jus makes it sweeter that I bin getting paid ta do it.”
Big Jim liked what he heard. “That’s right, Peabody and this time I expect to have results. I’ve already lost two of my men and one is missing. What’s your plan?”
Lance squinted as he reached into his coat and pulled out a huge bowie knife and then slammed it down on the desk.“ I ain’t never got a plan, I’m just gonna wait till the time is right and then…well if’n bullets don’t do the trick I aim ta slit his gullet.” He stared at Big Jim. “In the meantime me an my boys got a powerful thirst and it ain’t just for whisky we’re gonna cut a path through them saloons and hurdy houses an it’s gonna be on your dollar,” Peabody’s sneered and showed his blackened teeth.
Lance Peabody vibrates evil. Big Jim thought.
He knew the k
ind of killer he was and what he was capable of. He was both repulsed and attracted at the same time however he was sure he’d picked the right man for the job. Peabody lusted for the taste of blood and chaos but unfortunately he was also a loose cannon on deck. He was not sure how he would be able to restrain Peabody and his gang once they scented blood. He needed to distance himself from the butchery that was sure to come no matter how much he might relish it.
Big Jim wanted Devlin Winter dead but he did not want to draw attention to his real purpose behind the Gilded Bird mine, at least not until it was well and truly his.
Dahlia had returned to town but this time she was careful to stay in the shadows. It had not been hard to observe the activities of her Lord from a distance. She had taken a room in a discrete boarding house on B Street not far from the Emerald Salon. A place that catered to the high priced mistresses of Virginia City’s big shot mining moguls.
Every last one of them had a fancy piece on the side, she reckoned. And who could blame them with all that money and nothing to spend it on but some dried up prune of a wife and a passel of snot nosed kids? And she aught ta know, her mamma was a man’s fancy piece and she was his bastard. When she came of age he sold her to the highest bidder, to another brothel. One owned by that vampire bitch Ligea. That was all in the past now and because of her Lord she was now free, had her a sweet little nest egg and could pick and choose her gentlelmun friends.
She sashayed down to the boardwalk in a new rose colored silk dress to have a look around. She spied that delicious young man, Miss Esmeralda’s Jamie, hot-footing it down the boardwalk past the Silver Queen Saloon. This evening she planned to peek into the saloons and see what that scumbag in the buffalo hide coat was up to. As the sun went down she made her way south towards the Barbary Coast and sniffed around. It did not take long to find where he and his pack had gone.
She just followed the sounds of gunfire.
When Devlin returned home to his railcar Walking Ghost was there waiting. There was a solemn air about his friend and he wore an eagle feather in his long gray hair. He had painted two slashes of yellow war paint on his cheeks. When they both sat down in front of the stove in Devlin’s parlor Walking Ghost was the first to speak.
“I have spoken with Spider Woman. She asked about you, she showed me many things, most of all how to kill a demon.”
Devlin stared into the flames. “The noose tightens, my friend. The demon is not our only worry. It appears that Lance Peabody has come back from the dead. I shot him square between the eyes back in Red Bluff then finished him off with one of his own stakes and now he’s here in Virginia City as one of Big Jim Diamond’s assassins.”
Walking Ghost sighed. “Then this one does not feed on blood, my friend. He is Windigo, a flesh eater. You must cut off his head and burn it.”
“Peabody is a beast. He’s a moron that knows no fear. That combination makes him dangerous and as unstable as nitroglycerin. By now he must know where to find me and it will be interesting to see what his next move will be.”
“What will you do?” Walking Ghost asked.
“I plan to do a little exterminating of my own. I will hunt them before they hunt me, thin them out, then Lance Peabody will have to face me alone without his pack of rabid dogs.”
“I would wish for his scalp to hang on my belt only then can I avenge my people,” Walking Ghost said.
“Is he and his kind why you are the last of your tribe? You’ve never spoken of it”
When Walking Ghost replied not a shred of emotion showed on his face.
“It was November, the coldest winter I could remember. The buffalo had been scarce and we had not been able to gather enough food or fuel to last through the winter. Several of the old ones and babies had died, fallen asleep never to wake again. For days we had been snowed in, hungry, freezing, with no help in sight. The howling wind tore through our teepees. The blinding white drove us to the edge of madness. On the fifth day of the storm my brother, Yellow Horse, rose from his blanket and ran out into the snow. When he did not return we formed a small search party and went out to look for him. He had disappeared. The storm continued and about midnight a horrible hissing sound echoed through our camp. Terrible screams followed as our people were savaged and eaten alive by a horrible beast. It tore through my tepee and killed my family. Sharp claws grabbed me and I was thrown into the snow. I lay there unconscious for two days. When I awoke our camp was flattened and burned. The bodies of the dead were spread from one end to another. Alone with only the clothes on my back I left and never returned. The flesh eater Windigo had destroyed my whole tribe. This Peabody is one them.”
Devlin held his whisky glass up to the flames, he swirled the glass then downed the fiery liquid in one swallow.
“I know now that I underestimated Peabody in Red Bluff, but I am prepared this time to part his filthy head from his body,” Devlin said.
Walking Ghost looked grim. “Their hunger possesses them they feel no pain or fear and like rabid wolves they will keep coming”
“Even rabid wolves can be put down,” Devlin replied.
At Devlin’s words Walking Ghost nodded. He rose from his chair and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.
“I go to put my ear to the ground, to listen to the wind, and to the minds of crazy white men”
Devlin chuckled and raised his whiskey glass.
“Be careful, I will see you in the morning and give the old witch my regards”
Walking Ghost walked back towards the hills. Devlin’s words had not convinced him. In fact his heart felt pierced by a thousand arrows.
Now the prospect of meeting such evil again terrified him but at the same time filled him with resolve. His hands shook for a taste of the white man’s firewater but he would not touch a drop. Instead he would watch and wait for the right opportunity to avenge the honor of his people.
Back at the Emerald Salon, Esmeralda was on pins and needles ever since she’d sent Jamie with a note for Devlin. She continued to deal cards and smile with her customers, all the while keeping one eye on the door waiting and for Jamie’s return. When he finally showed up she excused herself from the table and drew Jamie upstairs to her office.
“Well? What did he say?” she asked.
Jamie shook his head. “Didn’t say nothing, ma’am, just took the note and thanked me.”
She wrung her hands together. The stubborn fool! Vampire or not if that horrible man Peabody was alive it meant that he was a powerful adversary. She ached to see Devlin but common sense prevailed. She needed to find Dahlia, convince her to introduce her to the other vampires in town. But she was nowhere to be found. During her short stay at the Emerald Salon, Dahlia had been an indifferent employee to say the least. She had made it a habit of coming in and out of the Salon when she felt like it with no notion of work ethic at all. It had been several days since Esmeralda had seen her. She’d disappeared along with Leonard White. She hoped it was not a coincidence. She reached into her desk and took out a gold piece and handed it to Jamie.
“Jamie, I have another task for you. I want you to find out where Dahlia is and when you do ask her to come here see me.”
Jamie nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ligea
The Vampire community of Virginia City went about their macabre business in the shadows. It was a parasitical society that preyed on the lost and desperate, while drawing as little attention as possible and keeping to themselves. Once every so often, the discovery of a bloodless victim, and a brief sensational article about a mysterious death would be reported. Then it’d be swept under the rug the next day with the news of another type of heinous crime.
The center of the Vampires hive in Virginia City was the House of the Rising Moon on D Street. Their leader was the Madame herself, a tall beauty over six feet tall, with raven hair and black eyes, the vampire Queen Ligea – a Russian princess who was over two hundred years old.
She had k
nown Devlin for at least one hundred of those years and she still held a secret torch for him. She would not however let her feelings for him endanger the rest of her vampire brood. Virginia City had been a blood bounty, the perfect combination of nameless victims, donors and their gold. She would not allow this latest business with Leonard White expose them. She had her own sources of information and knew Devlin had pricked a hornet’s nest with that snake Jim Diamond. She intended to stay far away from it. These things preyed heavy on her mind as she made her rounds through the house then settled down in her own private parlor. After a short while there was a knock on the door.
“Come,” she called. The door to the parlor opened to reveal a beautiful blond man dressed in a pearl gray suit and top hat. He removed his hat and bowed to Ligea.
“Madame?”
She floated forward and gave him her hand. “Virgil, I am glad you have come, I have need of you.”
Virgil kissed her hands passionately. Then his gaze searched her face. She smiled. “No not that way, you and I are beyond that now. We must discuss the hive and the upcoming Vampire Ball.”
Virgil led her to one of the high backed settees and they sat opposite each other. She looked deep into his golden eyes. He had once been her donor but now he was her lover and a very inventive one at that.
“The Hive, my sweet boy, is in danger of being exposed.”
Virgil frowned. “But how? We do not mix with the mortals. What do they want from us?”
Ligea sighed. She took out a pre-rolled cigarette from an elaborate cloisonné box that sat on a small table next to the settee and then placed it in her ivory holder. Vigil took a match from another box on the marble top table, struck it and lit Ligea’s cigarette.