excellent sheriff and a very courageous man,” she said.
Not only didn’t Cody take offense, he didn’t even glance her way, only grinned at Cole. “I don’t doubt that. In a pinch, Sheriff, you’re one man I’d like fighting at my side. But I’m afraid that Miss Gordon isn’t likely to understand what I’m about to say. And I’m rather afraid, as well, that if I stand up at your town meeting and try to explain what’s going on around here, a few folks are going to know in their hearts that I’m right, but all the rest are going to tell you that I’m a madman.”
“I’m lost myself,” Cole said. “What on earth are you getting at?”
Cody looked across the table to the corner of the dining room where Beulah stood, half hidden by shadows.
“Beulah knows,” he said softly. “And I’m certain that Tess and Jewell believe, as well. This boardinghouse has been protected, not just decorated. The garlic fronds, and all those fine crosses.”
Cody glanced at Brendan, then went on. “We are facing true evil here. Those men are not just outlaws. Not all of them, anyway. Some are…diseased. The disease is terrifying and transmissible. Sometimes it’s transferred by an act of pure terror, sometimes through seduction. Sometimes, rarely, if a person has only just contracted the disease, they can be cured. But there is a point of no return, and it comes quickly.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Alex demanded bluntly.
“What you and Dave saw in the woods tonight—I did bring something down with an arrow, something against which your bullets were worthless,” Cody said. “We’re fighting an ancient evil, something unlike anything you’ve ever faced before that can be fought only with specific weapons, kept at bay only by specific precautions.”
“What weapons?” Cole asked. “What precautions?”
“The weapons are arrows, stakes, knives and swords. And holy water, but you don’t seem to have much of thataround here, though I have a small supply. And the precautions—let no one in. No one. The enemy can enter only if asked.”
“This is insane,” Alex said. “Do you think I asked those men in last night?”
Cody shook his head patiently. “This is a boardinghouse. Open to the public, just as the saloon is. Such places need more protection than anywhere else.”
“This evil?” Dave asked. “Does it have a name?”
Silence fell as Cody met each of their eyes in turn.
“Vampires,” he said at last.
CHAPTER SIX
“H ERE, HERE, NOW !” Cole roared out above the din in the saloon.
Alex, sitting in the front row, sat back and sighed. Cole was getting irritated, while Cody, standing beside him, remained impassive.
It was just as Cody had expected. Half the town already believed that something evil and beyond anything they had ever thought of as normal was going on.
The other half thought the first half was crazy.
She saw Jim Green, the photographer and undertaker, who had insisted Cody lop the head off the corpse the night before, sitting quietly, as if oblivious to the commotion going on around him. Others, men and women, husbands and wives, friends, associates, and would-be lovers, were all arguing with one another at the tops of their voices.
“I suggest you all shut up and listen,” Cody said suddenly. He didn’t shout, but his voice rose above the sound of the crowd. “Your lives are at stake.”
Silence fell. People stopped speaking and stared at him as if they’d been frozen in place. It would have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so dire.
Of course, the whole meeting had been bizarre from the onset. It was taking place in the saloon—the brothel. Mostof the women, the “ladies” of the town, were respectfully garbed, many in homespun cotton, their necklines high, shawls around their shoulders against the evening chill. The saloon girls, however, were in their working attire: dance hall dresses, plumed hats and very, very low décolletage. One
Not only didn’t Cody take offense, he didn’t even glance her way, only grinned at Cole. “I don’t doubt that. In a pinch, Sheriff, you’re one man I’d like fighting at my side. But I’m afraid that Miss Gordon isn’t likely to understand what I’m about to say. And I’m rather afraid, as well, that if I stand up at your town meeting and try to explain what’s going on around here, a few folks are going to know in their hearts that I’m right, but all the rest are going to tell you that I’m a madman.”
“I’m lost myself,” Cole said. “What on earth are you getting at?”
Cody looked across the table to the corner of the dining room where Beulah stood, half hidden by shadows.
“Beulah knows,” he said softly. “And I’m certain that Tess and Jewell believe, as well. This boardinghouse has been protected, not just decorated. The garlic fronds, and all those fine crosses.”
Cody glanced at Brendan, then went on. “We are facing true evil here. Those men are not just outlaws. Not all of them, anyway. Some are…diseased. The disease is terrifying and transmissible. Sometimes it’s transferred by an act of pure terror, sometimes through seduction. Sometimes, rarely, if a person has only just contracted the disease, they can be cured. But there is a point of no return, and it comes quickly.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Alex demanded bluntly.
“What you and Dave saw in the woods tonight—I did bring something down with an arrow, something against which your bullets were worthless,” Cody said. “We’re fighting an ancient evil, something unlike anything you’ve ever faced before that can be fought only with specific weapons, kept at bay only by specific precautions.”
“What weapons?” Cole asked. “What precautions?”
“The weapons are arrows, stakes, knives and swords. And holy water, but you don’t seem to have much of thataround here, though I have a small supply. And the precautions—let no one in. No one. The enemy can enter only if asked.”
“This is insane,” Alex said. “Do you think I asked those men in last night?”
Cody shook his head patiently. “This is a boardinghouse. Open to the public, just as the saloon is. Such places need more protection than anywhere else.”
“This evil?” Dave asked. “Does it have a name?”
Silence fell as Cody met each of their eyes in turn.
“Vampires,” he said at last.
CHAPTER SIX
“H ERE, HERE, NOW !” Cole roared out above the din in the saloon.
Alex, sitting in the front row, sat back and sighed. Cole was getting irritated, while Cody, standing beside him, remained impassive.
It was just as Cody had expected. Half the town already believed that something evil and beyond anything they had ever thought of as normal was going on.
The other half thought the first half was crazy.
She saw Jim Green, the photographer and undertaker, who had insisted Cody lop the head off the corpse the night before, sitting quietly, as if oblivious to the commotion going on around him. Others, men and women, husbands and wives, friends, associates, and would-be lovers, were all arguing with one another at the tops of their voices.
“I suggest you all shut up and listen,” Cody said suddenly. He didn’t shout, but his voice rose above the sound of the crowd. “Your lives are at stake.”
Silence fell. People stopped speaking and stared at him as if they’d been frozen in place. It would have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so dire.
Of course, the whole meeting had been bizarre from the onset. It was taking place in the saloon—the brothel. Mostof the women, the “ladies” of the town, were respectfully garbed, many in homespun cotton, their necklines high, shawls around their shoulders against the evening chill. The saloon girls, however, were in their working attire: dance hall dresses, plumed hats and very, very low décolletage. One
Similar Books
