High Plains Haunting (eBook)

And Other Tales of the Paranormal West

Albert Morrow (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
176 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3178-0797-9 (ISBN)

Infos

Traveling ranch hand Dix Dereuse confronts his destiny when he encounters a murderous ghost in a Kansas cow town. Dix hadn't believed in the supernatural and hadn't listened to his Navajo grandmother who insisted he was a shaman. He ignored her lessons and set about wandering the wild western frontier, chasing cattle and good times. His life changes, though, when he has to protect a rancher's beautiful daughter from an angry spirit. If only he had listened to his grandmother's lessons.

Award-winning author Albert Morrow, a Marine Corp veteran and substitute teacher, lives in an historic Missouri river town with four rescue cats who don't get along. Samples of his writing and news of his other publications can be found at albertmorrow.com

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High Plains Hauntings and Other Tales of the Paranormal West is the first book in the adventures of Dix Dereuse. It begins with Dix' first disastrous encounter with the supernatural in McSally, Kansas and progresses through his first year of learning to use his shaman powers. He fights monsters like the massive Corpse-Eater and the Werewolf of Westchester and encounters an assortment of ghosts, some who want his help and other who want him to join them in death.

Textauszug

CHAPTER ONE

Before

“That’s it,” Walt told the scared bank clerk at the open safe door. The young man was shaking as he pulled stacks of cash out of the safe and stuffed them in a bag. “Fill that bag and you get to live to see sundown.”

To Walt’s left was one of his partners, Blind Bluff Billy, with his revolver on the other clerk. That bank employee showed no emotion as he emptied the cash drawers and filled the bag Billy had given him. Billy’s eyes roved about the bank, and he shuffled his feet. Walt wasn’t sure if Billy was nervous or just excited. He didn’t know the man very well and was only working with him because his usual partner had come down with a bad case of being shot for horse theft a week ago.

“We’re going to be rich,” Billy exclaimed. “I’m going to get me the highest dollar whore I can find!”

“Shush it,” Walt hissed at Billy. The damn fool had yelled so loud he was bound to attract attention. At the end of a short hallway next to the counter was the closed door of the bank president’s office. A pretty woman with eye catching curves had entered that office some minutes ago. Walt knew this because he had been watching the office from a window in the alley beside the bank. There was a hole in the window blind, and Walt had seen the bank president and the woman coming together in each other’s arms with all the desperate passion of persons loving on borrowed time. They kissed fast and hard and tore at their clothes. Walt wanted to stay to watch the show, but there was no better time to rob the bank than then.

The third member of the outlaw gang, a big lummox named Gabe, was in that alley now. He was supposed to be tending their horses and watching the streets outside to make sure no one walked in on the robbery in progress. Walt hoped that Gabe was doing his job and not spying on the amorous couple.

“We’re rich,” Billy suddenly announced, grabbing the full bag from his clerk’s hands. Despite his annoyance at the man’s overloud exclamation, Walt had to grin. His clerk was almost done stuffing his sack full. “We’re almost there,” he said to Billy.

Billy moved past Walt to stand near the bank president’s door. “I want that gal with the banker,” he said. “I’ll bet she’s for hire.” He looked at the door as though trying to see through the wood. “I can afford her now.”

“Just a few more seconds,” Walt said. He was smiling as he leaned over the counter to get the full bag from his clerk, but when his hands closed on it, he heard the door to the bank president’s office opening. The woman walked out. She was coughing lightly into her hand and didn’t see Billy until she had nearly walked into him.

“Pardon me,” she said before noticing the bandit’s bandanna-covered face and the revolver in his hand. She gasped then and her face went white. Walt felt his well-planned robbery taking a bad turn as Billy shoved his revolver in his holster and grabbed for the woman. She almost got away and would have disappeared back into the office, but Billy caught her by the wrist and pulled her to him.

“Billy, no!” Walt shouted. He saw the woman push away from Billy and turn her head. Walt knew what she was going to do, but there was no way for him to stop her.

“Roger, you’re being robbed,” she shouted through the open bank president’s door. The bank president must have been on the alert because he appeared suddenly with a shiny Smith and Wesson revolver in his hand.

To Walt, it felt as though time slowed after that. He was stuck in place, forced to watch as the woman dropped to the floor, clapping her hands over her ears. He saw Billy’s shocked features clearly as the bank president shoved the revolver next to Billy’s chest. Thankfully, the explosion of sound and smoke from the gun broke Walt’s spell, and he was able to run for the front door as Billy and his bag of loot fell to the floor. He fired a shot in the bank president’s direction on his way out without caring if he hit the man or not.

A tall man with a long-barreled Remington revolver in his hand came out of the barber shop across the street as Walt raced down the bank steps. Walter cursed. He hadn’t expected an armed response so quickly from a sleepy little Kansas town. He fired two shots at the man, sending him fleeing back inside the barber shop. Someone else fired at Walt, the bullet thudding into the wooden steps near his right foot. Another bullet from that direction whizzed by Walt’s side and he stumbled in shock and fell down the bank steps.

Those gunshots had come from a second shooter crouching in the threshold of a hardware store. He had just fired a third shot that would most likely have hit Walt had he still been standing.

Has the whole damn town come out to shoot at me? he wondered as he scrambled up and then dropped flat as a shot rang out close to him. That shot was from Gabe though, coming out of the alley shooting at the hardware store shooter. Walt didn’t look back to see whether Gabe’s aim was true. He stayed down and crawled past his partner as Gabe fired again and again.

Walt got to his feet once he was in the shadows of the alley, but he stayed bent over as he ran for his horse.

“Come on, Gabe! We’ve got to go!” he yelled as he shoved his boot into his horse’s stirrup. He hopped into his saddle, hugging the bag of loot to his chest and nearly dropping his Colt. He craned his head back, looking for Gabe.

The big man walked slowly toward the horses. There was bright blood spreading out on his shirtfront.

“Ain’t going to make it,” Gabe said, before dropping to his knees and then falling flat on his face.

Walt didn’t let Gabe’s death slow his departure. He grabbed his reins and heeled his horse hard. The animal, spooked by even more gunfire being sprayed down the alley, shot into motion so quick, Walt nearly fell off. He righted himself but stayed ducked low as bullets flew past him.

He screamed cuss words and emptying his Colt behind him without looking back.

The alley ran to the edge of town, so he reasoned he should be safe from any more bullets once he exited it, but to his horror, a man with a star on his chest was waiting for him there. The lawman had a revolver in each hand but hadn’t fired. Walt’s Colt was empty and, out of desperation, he flung the gun at the man. To his great surprise, it impacted the man’s forehead, and the lawman fell right in front of Walt’s horse. The impact of iron shod hoofs crushing flesh and bone made Walt’s stomach lurch.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen!” he shouted as though the dying lawman could hear him. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!”

This job was supposed to be so easy, he thought as his horse carried him past the rickety outhouse that marked the edge of McSally, Kansas. He hadn’t gone far across the plains outside town when his horse began to falter. The poor animal had been hit by several bullets that missed Walt.

“It ain’t supposed to happen like this,” Walt shouted in frustration. “I had it all planned!”

He headed the stumbling but still running horse toward a plateau that overlooked the town. A decrepit mansion perched on the plateau, looking to Walt like a buzzard waiting for his next meal to die.

I ain’t going to be that meal, he thought. He had been told there were several paths that led down from the plateau, so if he got up there, he might be able to lose anyone chasing him in the fast-approaching dark of night and sneak away down one of the paths. He could always hide in the old mansion for a while as well. Some of the locals he talked to avoided the place, making vague references to a murderous ghost with red claws.

I ain’t dumb enough to believe in ghosts, but if the foolish locals do, I’ll take advantage of it, Walt thought, heading his horse for a boulder-lined zigzag path at the foot of the plateau and pushing the dying animal as hard as he could.

The lowering sun gave length to the decayed mansion’s shadow, and when Walt rode into that long stretch of darkness, his horse shuddered and died in midrun. The dead animal crashed to the ground, and Walt was pitched out of his saddle. He lay in the dirt, pain raging like a fire in his right ankle. He was certain it was broken, but he was also certain an armed posse would be coming out of the well-armed town and gunning for him soon. Gritting his teeth, Walt rose up on his one good leg and nearly fell down again.

Walt forced himself to stay standing and hopped over to the loot bag he had dropped. Grabbing it, he limped for the boulder-lined trail. Climbing the switchback trail took everything out of him. His chest was heaving, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and his ankle was swollen so big he didn’t think he would be able to take his boot off, but he was alive, and he made it.

Unfortunately, the posse was hot on his trail. It was already too dark to see, but he heard men and horses below him.

“Ain’t no choice,” Walt said as he limped up the porch steps of the decayed two-story mansion and through the open front door. The darkness inside swirled and shifted before...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.7.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3178-0797-9 / 9798317807979