Now, while I was happy that the Lividian plan had been thwarted, I did find myself in something of a mix-up. There I was with a hexed cannonball bouncing around inside a cavern, setting off little earthquakes whenever or wherever it hit. On top of that it kept blasting pieces of the scaffold into splinters, many of which were as long as my arm and a mite worrisome if they struck home. On top of all that, all the hexing I'd done had me plumb worn out.
I do remember diving for cover in the tunnel and thinking that I wasn't really sure anything could protect me from an earthquake anyway. I'm sure that thought would have niggled and nagged me to distraction but, as luck would have it-bad luck, mind you-a piece of rock spanged off my thinkbox, and I slumbered through what would have been a most harrowing time.
***
"You see," said Quilt rather solemnly, "it takes a man of Doctor Sterling's noble spirit and sharp mental faculties to be able to come up with a solution to so dire a problem. Only he could have figured out how to use a stick of TNT to blow out the single scaffold support that would allow the cannon to rotate around and shoot its projectile back up toward the mansion. And then to drag you, Mr. Kilbane, to the one place the scaffold would save you from the falling rocks, impressive. Such quick thinking, and sound application of scientific principles."
Wilson scrubbed his handkerchief under his nose. "But what about the cost to Doctor Sterling. It must have crushed him."
Johns frowned. "What happened?"
Quilt's voice grew quietly respectful. "The cannon shell ripped up into the house and exploded. The central beams were broken and the whole house collapsed in on itself. Oil lamps caught on fire. Leviticus Knox, his daughters and, alas, Jezebel, were trapped in the house. A note she left on Doctor Sterling's saddle said she had to go back to try to save her sisters. They were all in the house when it was destroyed. All dead."
Wilson nodded. "Serves Knox right for trying to blast a hole into Hell, to free the demons so Jesus would have to return."
"You could take it as that, surely." I nodded solemnly. "The Knoxes, they all died when the house went down. Jezebel, too. The Doctor, he...searched all he could, but the fire..." I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. "I guess it brought him some comfort that she died trying to save her family. So, for all intents and purposes, the Parker Panic is over."
Wilson gave me a jowl-lifting smile. "It was a corker of a tale, still is. You going to do another?"
I shrugged. "As the Doctor dictates, I guess." I stood. "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I'll get some fresh air."
I retreated through the car and slipped out the door to the small platform at the rear of the car. I shut the door behind me and sat down on the steps. I leaned my spine against the car's weathered wood and let the click-clack vibrations of wheels on track loosen the muscles in my back. I closed my eyes for a moment, then didn't bother to open them when I heard the sound of the door latch.
"Mr. Kilbane, if you don't mind, a question."
"Ask away, Mr. Johns."
His voice grew louder as he squatted at my left shoulder. "Doctor Sterling, being a man of science, he couldn't have imagined that Knox was truly intent on blasting an opening into Hell, could he? I mean, such an explanation is at odds with the engineering brilliance it took to put together the automaton buffaloes and that Hell-cannon. That's not truly what he thinks, is it?"
I shrugged, then opened my eyes slowly. "I don't always know his mind, but you might could be right there, Mr. Johns. See, after we dragged ourselves from the cave down there we actually found Jezebel and her father alive, outside the burning house."
"They lived?"
"They did, though Salome and Lilith didn't. Perished in the fire." I gave him a slow smile. "See, it turns out that while Jezebel was in Georgia, one of her father's old army aides, Dalton Jeffries, came to Parker. He'd been a bright engineer, which is why he was part of Knox's staff in the war. Dalton, though, he started dealing with things dark and dangerous. The Doctor reckons that Jeffries usurped Knox's place after the old man broke down. He took up with Knox's daughters and used his sorcerous ways to make slaves of the Lividians. He took all of their lands, which comprised most of Parker, and was intent in splitting off California, to make the ocean come right to Parker. It would become the new San Francisco and he'd own it all."
Johns smiled and slowly stood. "A brilliant plan."
I nodded. "I guess it's true, then, what you said. You chafed at having to serve under another man, even to having him take credit for your madness. Isn't that right, Jeffries?"
Johns started, then sank his hands into the pockets of his long coat. "You're not surprised I'm here?"
"Quartzite is another town on the fault that runs through Parker." I leaned back, letting the train car tip my Stetson up so I could see his eyes. "And there was that theft of the first American cannon to fire in the Revolutionary war from Boston last month. We figured you'd be making a move."
"I guess, then, we'd best end this now."
"I guess, because the Quartzite Quandry will just make for a lousy title." I gestured with my gloved right hand and saw Jeffries' eyes widen. Being a Hoylist himself, he knew a talisman when he saw one. His right hand twitched within his pocket, cutting a deck, thumbing cards into a hand. I don't know if he was trying to see what the hex on the glove was, or was doing something to defend himself, but it really didn't matter.
He'd run afoul of the best tool a magician ever had: misdirection.
In this case, he paid attention to the right hand of a left-handed gunslinger.
I only put three bullets into him, which was probably one more than I needed, but that first shot to his right knee likely misdirected him even more than my glove. The second one blew out his heart and took a chunk of spine with it. The last ventilated his brain pan, then I grabbed a lapel of his jacket and pitched him out into the night.
I reholstered my pistol and returned to the two card sharpers.
Wilson looked up. "Did I hear shots?"
I nodded. "Thought I saw coyotes out there." I slipped into my seat opposite them. "Gonna play?"
Quilt frowned. "Shouldn't we wait for Mr. Johns?"
I cast a little hex that drained their memories of Mr. Johns. I didn't think much of the manitou I grabbed to do the job, but he proved up to the job. And then some, judging by the blank stares I got from the two of them.
"Evening, gentlemen," I said, tugging on the brim of my Stetson. "Name's Nevan Kilbane."
Quilt's eyes brightened. "Your name, it's the same as the guy who writes them dime novels. The Doctor Sterling books."
"That's because I write them." I smiled. "Perhaps you've read the latest. It was called The Parker Panic, and what was in the book was only half the story."
Table of Contents
FOREWARD
WELCOME TO THE WEIRD WEST
HATE: PART ONE
REBORN ON THE BAYOU
THE HEX FILES
THE TASTE
THE DRIVE
LET THE RIVER OF DEATH WASH OVER ME
COMES THE STORM
THE PARKER PANIC
A Fist Full O' Dead Guys Page 22