Uriah Moon was standing on the high parapet staring with unblinking eyes at the massive mountain range which stood defiantly before the remote Fort Hook. Smoke still billowed into the sky from the explosions that the infamous vigilante had instigated only hours earlier as he had risked his neck in his valiant and successful bid to free the two young Hooper girls held captive there.
As the morning breeze caught his long white hair Moon continued to stare blankly at the notorious place that he had somehow survived. Steam rose from the tin coffee cup in his hands. Hands which had suffered rope burns during his escape from the infamous Lair.
There was no hint of what had occurred only hours earlier in the vigilante. It was as though he refused to acknowledge his brave deed and the pain which he continued to suffer. Pain meant nothing to the wide-shouldered Uriah Moon. Pain could be endured unlike death.
Death was permanent.
As the sun broke to announce a new day, its golden rays ran speedily across the desert and rippled over the surface of Lucifer’s Lair. It was as though a million oil lanterns had suddenly burst into light in a matter of only a few seconds. Even though the sun was only just appearing over the high jagged mountain spires, its light was intense and washed over everything in its path. The blackest of shadows were long and stretched from every rock along the mountainous façade in total contrast to the blinding sun. The silent Uriah Moon knew that they would constantly change shape as the sun travelled higher into the desert sky and then alter again just before sunset.
Nothing ever remained the same.
Everything was constantly moving as it had done since the beginning of time and would continue to do so until time itself no longer existed.
The infamous vigilante stood watching the birth of yet another day silently holding the cup of coffee in his bloody hands as he heard footsteps behind his tall wide frame.
The sound of heavy boots caught his attention.
Moon did not need to turn and look at the figure who approached him. He instantly recognized the powerful scent of his cousin’s cigar smoke. The boards creaked as the outposts commanding officer drew closer to his kinsman.
‘Howdy, Ambrose,’ Moon drawled.
‘What are you doing up here, Uriah?’ Colonel Ambrose Moon asked as he came to the side of his cousin and paused against the wall made from countless straight tree trunks shipped hundreds of miles to this remote place to construct the awesome edifice as there were no trees in this barren landscape. ‘The Doc wants to check you over.’
Moon glanced to his cousin and nodded.
‘Why would he wanna see me?’ the vigilante asked in a low drawl as he sipped at the black beverage. ‘He should be tending to the wounded troopers after yesterday’s attack. They need his help more than I do.’
Colonel Ambrose Moon was like everybody else who had ever encountered his strange cousin, and simply did not understand the prematurely grey man. He edged closer to the vigilante and vainly tried to see the slightest hint of humanity in his expressionless features.
But Uriah Moon had the face of a skilled poker player. He never revealed his hand no matter what cards he held. The tall unforgettable vigilante seldom displayed any hint of emotion like other men.
The colonel had never truly understood his last remaining relative. Even to him, Uriah was a total mystery. He stared at the statuesque figure who looked at the rising smoke which spiraled into the heavens from Lucifer’s Lair. With his holstered pair of matched Peacemakers glinting in the morning sun as it reflected off their pearl handled grips, the vigilante appeared almost inhuman.
‘The Hooper girls told Doc that you ripped up the flesh off your hands,’ Ambrose replied through a cloud of cigar smoke as he tapped the ash from his smoke. ‘They said you were hurt. Doc just wants to check you over.’
‘I’m fine. I just made the mistake of sliding down a cutting rope without my gloves on, Ambrose,’ Moon uttered dismissively as he sipped at his coffee. ‘Tell that quack to make sure them girls are okay.’
Ambrose inhaled more smoke and savored its powerful flavor for a moment before returning his attention to his cousin.
‘I’d like you to see the doc, Uriah,’ he said.
Uriah Moon gave another nod of his head. His narrowed eyes flashed at the colonel but showed no sign of expression. He then returned his gaze to the mountain façade and the rubble created by throwing two sticks of dynamite into the mouth of the canyon. Even from the fortress it was obvious that nobody would be using the canyon to drive wagons in and out for quite a while. A wry smile etched his bearded face.
‘You worrying about me, cousin?’ Moon asked in an almost boyish manner. ‘Shucks, I didn’t know you cared.’
The colonel chuckled.
‘You sure slowed them smugglers up a bit,’ Ambrose said before placing the cigar back between his teeth. ‘That’s one hell of a rock-pile you created.’
‘Yeah, it is kinda impressive, ain’t it?’ Moon drawled and looked hard at the colonel. It was like being stared at by a bird of prey, Ambrose thought. It gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his guts.
‘You could get a medal for what you did,’ Ambrose said as he watched the vigilante through cigar smoke. ‘I just got to wire the army bigwigs and they’ll be more than proud to hand you a shiny medal and a fancy ribbon. What you think of that?’
The vigilante shrugged.
‘What good are medals, Ambrose?’ he asked plainly unimpressed by the suggestion. ‘They don’t fill your belly when you’re hungry. They can’t keep you warm like a good woman can and they don’t make you feel better for killing folks.’
‘I don’t understand you, Uriah,’ the colonel admitted.
‘Me neither,’ Moon nodded.
Colonel Ambrose shook his head and pulled a long Havana cigar from his inside tunic pocket and offered it to the statuesque Moon. The narrowed eyes of the vigilante glanced at the offering and then plucked it from his cousin’s hand. He sniffed its fragrance and then placed it next to his tobacco pouch in his shirt pocket.
‘Ain’t you going to smoke it?’ Ambrose asked.
‘I’ll save it until I need to use it for lighting another dynamite stick,’ Moon said without casting his attention on the military officer.
Ambrose sucked in more smoke and then sighed as it drifted back through his teeth. He simply did not understand the tall man he barely recognized behind the long straight beard. Yet the vigilante had proven he was far braver than anyone else the colonel had ever met before.
‘What are you fretting about, Uriah?’ he asked.
The vigilante sighed.
‘Are the girls really okay, Ambrose?’ he asked.
The colonel nodded firmly and turned around to face the same view that his cousin was enjoying. He rested his elbows on the jagged top of the wall and carefully studied the scene that faced them. Of all the men that the colonel knew, only his mysterious kinsman could have achieved the almost suicidal mission.
Only Uriah would have even dared, he thought.
‘Those girls sure took a shine to you, Uriah,’ the military man commented as he inhaled deeply on his cigar. ‘You’re the only thing they have been talking about since you brought them to Fort Hook.’
Moon was unimpressed. He finished his coffee and placed the tin cup down on the wall. He looked at the palms of his hands and the damage done by the rope burns. He said nothing.
The colonel moved closer.
‘I reckon the doc has some salve that’ll help them burns, Uriah,’ he said. ‘Come with me and I’ll make sure he tends them wounds.’
The tall vigilante did not utter a word as he followed the colonel along the parapet to the steps and descended into the parade ground.
Whatever Uriah Moon was thinking, it was hidden behind his long white beard and mane of silver hair. He strode behind his cousin silently and knew that every eye was on him as he headed toward the doctor’s office. Moon realized that the troopers who manned Fort Hook had heard of his daring exploits and were silently in awe of the mysterious man in their midst.
None of them had ever seen anyone that remotely resembled the vigilante before. From a distance he looked decades older than he actually was but the closer anyone got to Uriah Moon, it became obvious that he was really far younger.
Moon silently trailed the colonel into the office of the doctor and noticed the blood stained floorboards that had yet to be cleaned up.
‘Take care of his hands, Doc,’ Ambrose ordered the medical man as he watched his cousin staring at the crimson evidence of the previous day’s activity. Moon lowered his tall frame into a padded leather chair as the doc circled around him.
‘Did them girls see that?’ Moon asked as he pointed at the dried blood on the floorboards.
‘I’m afraid so,’ the doctor answered as he prepared to clean up the wounds on the vigilante’s hands. ‘They’re a tough pair of young ’uns though. They never stopped talking about you all the time they were being examined. I don’t even think they noticed the blood.’
‘They noticed it okay, Doc,’ Moon argued. ‘Not much escapes them.’
The colonel sniffed the air. His nostrils had detected the aroma drifting from the cook house and it had awakened his appetite. His guts reminded him that it was breakfast time. He returned his attention to his cousin’s wounds being cleaned and plastered in a clear salve.
Just watching made the colonel wince.
‘It’s an honor to treat a real hero,’ the doc said as he carefully smeared different concoctions on to the palms of Moon’s hands.
Moon did not say a word. He just watched.
No matter what concoction the doctor ladled on to the palms of Moon’s raw hands, the vigilante did not show any signs of discomfort.
His face remained expressionless.
‘Don’t you feel that, Mister Moon?’ the medical man queried as he began to wonder if the vigilante was somehow immune to pain. It seemed impossible but everything about Moon appeared to contradict logic.
‘I feel it okay,’ Moon replied.
‘Doesn’t it hurt?’
Moon nodded. ‘Yep, it hurts like hell.’
The doctor glanced at the colonel who could only shrug in shared confusion. Colonel Ambrose might have been the cousin of this strange creature but Moon was just as much a mystery to him as anyone else.
‘You ready for breakfast, Uriah?’ the colonel asked as Moon stood and walked away from the leather chair and stepped back out into the sunlight.
Uriah Moon recalled the last meal he had been presented with and exhaled loudly. As Ambrose was about to head into the cook house, the vigilante remained in the hot sun silently looking around the interior of the battle-scarred defense walls.
‘You coming?’ Ambrose asked the tall figure. ‘Smell that bacon. Come on and I’ll get them to rustle up a plate of it for you.’
The face of the vigilante remained totally expressionless as his eyes flashed at his kinsman. He glanced at his hands and then wiped the grease and other potions off them on his jacket front. He then stroked his long beard and tightened the leather lace which secured it.
‘What’s happening to them girls, Ambrose?’ he drawled.
Ambrose reluctantly dragged himself away from the cook house to the side of Moon. He patted the sleeves of the vigilante and looked into Moon’s ice cold eyes.
‘The forts womenfolk are looking after the girls, Uriah,’ he said as he turned the tall figure toward the fragrant cook house. ‘You don’t have to fret about them. Come on and have some breakfast.’
Moon nodded and followed Ambrose into the cookhouse and sat down close to the door. The colonel sat across the table from him and rubbed his hands together expectantly. As the aroma of frying bacon filled his nostrils, Moon suddenly had to admit that he was hungry.
‘Bacon and eggs?’ Ambrose asked the unblinking Moon.
Uriah Moon silently nodded.
As both plates of bacon and eggs were set down before the colonel and his guest, the officer immediately started to tuck in feverishly. Two cups of the blackest coffee were placed before both men. Moon looked at his meal and the lifted a fork and began to cut into the eggs and consume them.
He had not realized how hungry he was and hastily devoured the entire meal before the colonel was even halfway through his own plate of food.
‘You must have been hungry, Uriah,’ he stated between chews.
Moon lifted the tin cup and took a thoughtful mouthful of coffee from it and then placed it back down on the table as his eyes burned into his cousin.
‘What you intending to do with them girls, Ambrose?’ he asked in a low drawl. ‘I got me a notion that you ain’t gonna keep them here at the fort.’
The colonel glanced at his cousin. He had not mentioned that the army had ordered him to send the Hooper girls away as soon as they could find a suitable relative and wondered how the mysterious Uriah could know this.
‘How in tarnation do you know that?’ Ambrose crunched on bacon. ‘You’re right. With their parents dead we have to find them a home with their kinfolk. If that fail’s we’ll have to put them into an orphanage. We have no option.’
‘I figured as much,’ Moon said angrily.
‘How do you know that, Uriah?’ Ambrose asked as egg ran from the corners of his mouth.
Uriah Moon did not reply. He straightened up on his chair and looked straight at his cousin. His ice blue eyes bore into the chewing colonel but he did not utter a word. His disapproving expression made it clear how he felt.
After vainly attempting to ignore the penetrating stare for a few minutes, Ambrose Moon placed his knife and fork down to either side of his plate. After mopping his mouth, he raised his head and looked at the vigilante.
‘What?’ he asked in a fluster. ‘Why are you looking at me like that? I don’t make the rules, Uriah. I just carry them out as best I can.’
Moon sighed heavily.
‘I know, Ambrose,’ he drawled as he lifted the tin cup to his lips again and took another mouthful of coffee. ‘It just don’t sit well with me. Them girls don’t deserve to be sent off to an orphanage and forgotten about. They’ve already been through the bowels of hell and survived. It just don’t seem right to ship them off somewhere like a trunk of unwanted clothes. It seems more like a punishment to me.’
Ambrose placed his cutlery in the center of his plate and downed his coffee. He then stood up as Moon also rose to his full height.
The colonel saluted the cooks.
Both men strode out into the parade ground and started to climb the steps toward the colonel’s office. As they reached the office and entered, the vigilante remained thoughtful as he walked to the large window and stared out at the impressive view.
Lucifer’s Lair still remained an imposing vision but Uriah Moon had somehow managed to clip its formidable wings and halt the evil traffic that had gone on for years.
Moon glanced over his wide shoulder at his cousin as Ambrose seated himself behind his desk and poured himself a large helping of brandy. He sipped at the fragrant liquor and silently watched as his last remaining relative slowly turned.
Moon paced to the desk and sat down opposite Ambrose.
‘How are you going to get the girls from here to their destination, Ambrose?’ he asked as the fingertips of both hands touched before his bearded face.
‘At the moment we’re still not sure where the girls are headed,’ the colonel answered as the door of his office opened and Sgt. Tyler Potter entered with a sheet of paper in his hands.
‘This has just come over the wire, sir,’ Potter announced as he handed the colonel the paper.
Uriah Moon removed his hat and placed it on the desk. He ran his long fingers through his mane of long hair and then glanced at Ambrose as he read the message.
‘What’s it say, Ambrose?’ Moon asked.
The colonel looked up from the paper.
‘Lieutenant Hooper had no living family according to army records,’ Ambrose replied before adding. ‘But his wife Mary had a sister. They’re checking to see if she’ll look after the girls.’
Uriah Moon looked at the sergeant. ‘Any chance of rustling up a pot of coffee, Potter?’
Potter nodded.
‘I’ll rustle up a pot of coffee right away,’ he said.
Moon watched as Potter left the office. He then turned toward his thoughtful cousin. He toyed with his beard.
‘Where exactly does this sister live, Ambrose?’ he asked curiously.
Colonel Ambrose rubbed his jaw thoughtfully and then looked directly at the seated Moon. He did look happy as he cleared his throat and began to read.
‘A place called Cougar’s Bluff,’ the confused colonel read and looked up into the eyes of his cousin. ‘I’ve heard of this town. It’s on the edge of the territory and said to be a very pleasant place but…’
Moon leaned forward. ‘But what, Ambrose?’
The colonel took a large mouthful of brandy and then answered.
‘Look at the wall map, Uriah,’ he indicated to the large map pinned to the wooden wall behind him.
Silently Uriah Moon rose to his full impressive height and walked around the desk and stared hard at the map. It was quite vague compared to most other maps as the greater part of the territory had yet to be accurately recorded.
His blue eyes focused on the map.
Moon frowned when he noticed that the trail marked on the map which led to Cougar’s Buff. It seemed that this was the only route to the settlement.
‘This trail is mighty dangerous, Ambrose,’ he said bluntly before turning to face his concerned cousin. ‘I’ve been up around that way a few times over the last few years. The trail leads through some of the most dangerous mountains I’ve ever set eyes upon.’
‘I know, Uriah,’ the colonel agreed.
‘Those mountains are home to some of the most lethal gunmen to ever draw breath,’ Moon drawled. ‘There are also quite a few Cheyenne in that location.’
‘Cheyenne?’ Ambrose repeated the word as though it were poisonous. He placed his glass down on the ink blotter and got up from his chair and moved to the shoulder of the far taller man. ‘Did you say there are Cheyenne there?’
Moon nodded. ‘There were last Summer when I was hunting down a certain party, Ambrose. I barely escaped with my hair. Those Cheyenne left their spiritual home and the main body of their tribe a while back and headed to Cougar’s Bluff. I hear tell that there are about a hundred of them counting their womenfolk.’
‘I don’t see why you’re so concerned, Uriah,’ the colonel queried.
‘Years before white folks settled there the place was said to have had a very different name,’ Moon recalled. ‘It was a place of magic. A sacred place full of all sorts of strange happenings. The nomadic tribes had a very different name for that entire region which translated as Satan’s Spell.’
‘Satan’s Spell?’ Ambrose gasped.
‘Yep,’ the vigilante nodded.
‘I’ve heard tales of that place.’ The colonel looked ashen as he rubbed his neck. ‘I thought it was a myth. A tall tale with no basis in reality.’
‘It’s real enough, Ambrose,’ Moon stated firmly. ‘It’s a weird place. A place of magic spells that defy explanation.’
The colonel looked troubled.
‘But nobody believes in magic and all those stories, do they?’ the military officer sounded as though he was trying to convince himself rather than his tall cousin. ‘It’s just a lot of hot air created by drunken gold miners. Isn’t it?’
Uriah Moon inhaled loudly and walked back to the desk and rested his hip on its mahogany edge. He stroked his beard as he thoughtfully dwelled upon his concerns.
‘Some folks say that most myths are based on the truth, Ambrose,’ Moon drawled as he stared through his limp white hair before straightening up. ‘I’ve been there and I can tell you quite honestly that Satan’s Spell lives up to its name.’
‘In what way, Uriah?’
‘Strange things happen there,’ Moon said as he watched his cousin trying to comprehend his words. ‘Things which some folks could say are mystical. I’ve seen some of those things and can state quite firmly that they’re true. Things happen which should not be able to happen, Ambrose. The Injuns named it quite accurately. It is a place of spells.’
Ambrose Moon shook his head in disbelief. ‘Why would those Cheyenne renegades go there? If it’s that mysterious I imagine they’d stay clear of it.’
‘The renegades are led by a medicine man called Grey Owl,’ the vigilante informed. ‘He led his followers there because of its reputation. Grey Owl is one of those critters who believes that one day the Cheyenne will triumph over the white man. He is convinced that the magic contained in Satan’s Spell is the key to this.’
‘Medicine men can be mighty dangerous, Uriah,’ the colonel conceded as he considered his cousin’s information. ‘Look at the varmint called Sitting Bull. I hear that most of his visions have come true.’
‘You can’t send the girls to Cougar’s Bluff,’ Moon said bluntly. ‘the trail to it leads through some mighty inhospitable territory. If you wanna find a safe route there you’ll have to head east across the desert and then up through a wide fertile valley. The trouble is that way to Cougar’s Bluff adds a hundred miles to the journey.’
‘That’s too far, Uriah,’ Colonel Ambrose was confused. It had never occurred to him that simply sending the young sisters to their closest relative would create so many problems. ‘If they have to go there, it’ll have to be via Satan’s Spell.’
‘Maybe you won’t have to send them there,’ Moon drawled.
‘I’ll have to if that’s where their aunt lives, Uriah,’ the colonel said as he walked back to his brandy and finished the contents of his glass. He sat back down and studied the vigilante as Moon remained on the edge of the desk. ‘I don’t have any option. I have to follow the rules what the army tell me to follow.’
The ice cold eyes of the vigilante stared at the floorboards as he tapped his boot leather upon them. He then tilted his head and glanced at his cousin through strands of his long hair. Moon shook his head.
‘I didn’t risk my neck saving them girls for you to send them to their deaths, Ambrose,’ he drawled.
‘I know that,’ the colonel said.
‘How’d you figure you’re gonna do it anyway?’ Moon questioned. ‘It’ll need at least twenty fully armed cavalrymen to have a chance at reaching that town, Ambrose. Can you afford to water down your troops by that many? The fort hasn’t got enough men as it is.’
The colonel refilled his glass with the amber liquor and swilled it around the glass as he stared into its aromatic fumes before looking up at the vigilante. He knew that it was true that without reinforcements, it was a risk to dilute his company of men at this time.
‘You’re right, Uriah,’ he admitted. ‘We are grossly undermanned and it looks as though we’ll not get any replacements for some time. But I have to follow orders.’
‘Sounds to me as though you’re in a bit of a pickle,’ Moon reasoned. ‘What you gonna do?’
At that moment Sgt. Potter returned to the office carrying a tray with a coffee pot and two cups upon it as well as another sheet of paper. He walked between the two men and placed it down on the desk and then handed the paper to the colonel.
‘This is another wire from headquarters, sir,’ Potter said as Ambrose Moon carefully read the message.
‘It seems that Mary Hooper’s sister in Cougar’s Bluff is more than happy to accept the girls, Uriah,’ the colonel said dryly before loosening his tunic collar with a finger. ‘We are ordered to send both children there as soon as possible.’
Uriah Moon sighed heavily as he watched Potter leave the office silently. He watched his cousin refill his glass with brandy and stared into its amber liquor.
‘Maybe by the time I finish this bottle of cognac, I’ll be inspired and figure this out,’ Ambrose sighed.
The vigilante poured coffee into a cup.
‘You’re drinking the wrong kind of liquid to get inspiration, Ambrose,’ Moon said dryly as he raised the cup to his lips.