Free Dead of Winter by Lee Collins Page A

us a man-eating critter out there and a halfwit bounty hunter in here. I don't suppose you got a plan worked up?"
      "First thing today, Ben and I are catching the train for Denver."
      "What?" the two lawmen said in unison.
      "Yep," Cora said. "We got a priest down there that knows a thing or two we don't, so I reckon he might know what we're dealing with."
      "So we're supposed to just sit here and wait for you to get back?" Duggan asked.
      "That's about the size of it."
      "What if this thing comes around while you're gone?"
      "Fight it off. Ain't that hard."
      Duggan clenched his fists, restraining himself from striking her across the face. "If it ain't that hard, what do we need you for?"
      "There's a difference between fighting it off and killing it, marshal. Ben and I will figure the killing part out, but even you boys should be able to hold it off for a few days."
      "How would we go about that?" Jack asked, not liking her dismissive tone. The thought of the monster lurking in the streets made him uneasy, but he didn't consider himself a coward.
      "Well, can't say, exactly," Cora said. "Seemed to take a mighty disliking to my silver bullets. Didn't seem too fond of fire, neither."
      "That's easy, then," Duggan said, rolling his eyes. "We just need to find us a silver arsenal of our own and we'll be safe as a bear cub with its ma."
      "Finding silver is hard work in a mining town, ain't it?"
      The marshal glowered at her. "I ain't exactly got a mine of my own."
      Cora folded her arms. "Can't you just ask one of the mining companies to loan you a mess until we get this settled?"
      Jack burst out laughing, and even Duggan cracked a smile. "I'll get right on that, Mrs Oglesby, as soon as you pull the sun down out of the sky."
      "I take your point," Cora said. "You ought to make do with fire, though."
      "Don't have much choice," the marshal said. "If we're lucky, we may even settle this while you're gone."
      It was Cora's turn to laugh. "I never figured you for a sense of humor, marshal."

 
 
FIVE
     
 
 
    "Well, ain't this a regular mess."
      Cora and Ben stood on the train station platform, watching the steady stream of people flow around them. Men in dark suits and waxed mustaches paraded into passenger coaches bound for San Francisco, Saint Louis, Chicago, and New York. On their arms, ladies in calico dresses peered from beneath lace-trimmed hats. Their perfume lent the scent of flowers to the stench of smoke, oil, and human sweat.
      Following the swell of the crowd, they stepped out into the street and started walking. The afternoon sun glowed on the brick buildings, its reflection in their windows blinding them at regular intervals. The murmur of voices all around them blended with the clopping of horse hooves on the street.
      After a few blocks, Cora paused and stamped her feet. "I hate walking," she said. "Just our luck to catch the only train left in the world that ain't got a livestock car."
      "Don't you worry none," Ben said. "Them boys at the hotel livery will take right fine care of Our Lady."
      "Ain't her I'm worried about, it's me. Won't do to show up at the good Lord's house all worn out and ragged. Old Father Baez might take us for vagabonds or some such."
      Ben started walking again. "He'd be more than half right if he did."
      They made it to the church just before dusk. Red sunlight made the golden cross atop the bell tower shimmer, and Cora paused for a moment to admire it. As pretty as it was, she'd never understood why some churches chose gold over silver. Sure, the gold was more valuable, but no demon or monster had succumbed to a golden bullet through the heart.
      "Well, let's go see if the old man can help us out." She pushed her hat off her head. The white streak in her dark hair glowed as she smoothed down her braid.
      "You go talk to him. I think I'll go scare us up a room for the night." Ben's book was tucked under