It was dark within the confines of the large fortress as Uriah Moon crossed the parade ground. Apart from the wall torches which cast their fiery illumination down into the heart of Fort Hook and lamp light which spilled from the various windows, the cavalry stronghold was bathed in blackness. The vigilante pulled the golden chain of his pocket watch and once again checked the time. He still had a few minutes to go before the handsome widow lady was expecting him for supper, he thought. His long fingers pushed the time piece back into his vest pocket.
The vigilante’s narrowed eyes glanced at the long livery stable as he proceeded on toward his goal. Moon suddenly felt a warm glow in his innards as he became aware that this was probably the only time that he had done anything remotely regarded as normal. He moved through long shadows and then cut across toward the officer’s living quarters. The closer he got to where he knew June Marcus resided the more the hairs on the nape of his neck began to tingle.
He would soon discover why.
The small array of dwellings that lined the eastern wall were a temptation to some of the troopers who had been sent to the notorious fort. A temptation that some of the most depraved could not resist. Men who had earned their reputations and had been posted to Fort Hook as a punishment.
The fort had not had any females inside its walls when it was first constructed and the distant army headquarters believed that was still true.
They had thought that, where there were no females, there was no temptation.
But there were females at Fort Hook. The wives of officers and their children had steadily increased in number over the previous few years.
It might have been a successful plan if not for that fact.
Just as Big Joe McGraw had earlier told the vigilante, Fort Hook had more than its fair share of men willing and able to do the most terrible things to innocent females. Most had already been convicted of these and other crimes long before they had been exiled to this remote fortress. Few had seen the errors of their ways and reformed, and some had allowed their hideous longings to fester like open sores.
Uriah Moon moved through the blackest of shadows and passed the cook house on his way to keep his appointment, when he heard something.
Something which alerted his keen senses. At first he did not put two and two together but soon he would witness with his own eyes the most-vile of men intoxicated by their own cravings and longings.
The noises grew in the crisp night air.
The curious vigilante slowed as he reached a corner and stopped at the edge of the cookhouse. His ice blue eyes tightened as they searched the shadows which dominated the line of small houses.
Then he saw the two troopers. They moved in and out of the shadows. Cascading lamp light caught them as they drew ever closer to one of the windows.
That was June Marcus’ house, Moon thought. That was also where the Hooper sisters were, his mind recalled. An anger started to ferment inside his innards as he suddenly began to realize what was happening.
Moon straightened up to his full height as he watched the men lurking beside the small window. His keen eyes could see, even from the distance which separated them, what the men were doing. He could also imagine what they were planning to do next should the opportunity arise.
His eyebrows furrowed as he glared angrily at them. By the look of them, both the troopers were well into their forties and both were chuckling as they peered in through the window. The oil lamp was set just inside the window close to its glass. It cast its bright amber light out across the sand where the two soldiers were toying ever feverishly with themselves.
The vigilante snorted silently through his flared nostrils and pushed the tails of his jacket behind his gun grips. He wanted to simply shoot the lusting soldiers but knew that would not sit well with his cousin.
Moon lowered his head and tightened the leather lace around his long white beard. He gritted his teeth and moved away from the corner of the cook house.
With the blackest of shadows shielding him from the eyes of anyone who might be watching, Moon walked silently across the sand toward the lustful men. Their sniggering grunts sounded more suited to hogs seeking truffles. Neither of them had any thoughts above their throbbing groins.
They were transfixed by the sight which fueled their depravity. The longer they watched their unsuspecting victims, the more excitable they became. Moon realized what the pair of troopers must be staring at in through the window.
He knew it had to be the golden haired girls which had drawn these men like moths to a flame. This was their first and probably only night at Fort Hook, Moon reasoned. The girl’s angelic appearance might have been just too tempting.
As the vigilante moved closer to the backs of the pair of troopers he realized that the position of the lamp made it quite simple for someone to look into the house and made it virtually impossible for them to be spotted doing so.
The closer Moon got to the men and the window, it became crystal clear that his theory was quite correct. The troopers were partaking in a lurid case of voyeurism and getting more and more excited the longer they watched their innocent victims.
As the tall vigilante drew closer to the grunting troopers his narrowed eyes began to focus on what the soldiers were looking at. He could see that both the girls were undressed and prancing around in the bedroom as they innocently played at choosing clothes to wear for their evening meal.
The two soldiers were so excited that they neither heard or felt the presence of the tall figure who had moved to a matter of less than three feet behind them.
The troopers grunting and strange actions grew more intense as Moon stretched up and stared over their heads and in through the window panes.
His first impression was confirmed.
Uriah Moon realized that both the girls, who he had rescued only hours earlier, were indeed quite naked as they went through the pile of clothes donated by other officer’s wives and danced around the large bed.
Moon had seldom seen such naïve happiness as the sisters faces displayed. It was hard to tell their ages by the way they danced in total ignorance of their uninvited audience. Both looked much younger than when he had saved them from Lucifer’s Lair though.
They were looking for the best clothes to wear and that made the vigilante even more angry as his eyes looked down on the troopers before him. This was a private moment which the soldiers were stealing, he thought.
The vigilante took a step closer to the troopers.
So close in fact that they bumped into him as they relished the sight they were lusting over. For a moment neither of the enlisted men noticed that they were being pushed toward the window.
Then as their faces became pressed against the window panes it became obvious that someone was forcing them into the house wall. Both troopers began to push themselves back against the vigilante and finally managed to swing around on their heels. The sight which met their eyes was not what either had expected and it showed.
Moon glanced down to below their belts and then returned his gaze to their faces. His judgmental expression temporarily scared the seasoned troopers.
‘Put ‘em back in your pants,’ Moon whispered as he stared hard into their eyes. ‘They’ve had more than enough air for one night.’
‘Who the hell are you to give us orders?’ one of the soldiers snarled at the figure who towered over them in a fashion more akin to the Grim Reaper than a living man.
‘I’m the bastard that’s going to shoot them peckers clean off if you don’t do it, friend,’ Moon drawled.
They obeyed.
The sight of the towering man with the ice blue eyes, long white air and the incredibly long beard shocked both soldiers for a split second. They just stared up into his narrowed eyes like startled jack rabbits confronted by a hungry fox.
‘You seen enough?’ Moon drawled in a deep threatening tone.
They did not answer with mere words. They clenched their fists and suddenly started to throw wild punches at the man who had humiliated them. The powerful blows knocked the vigilante backwards but he did not fall. Moon staggered and then he steadied himself and gritted his teeth as they charged at him.
The first soldier managed to land a punch but Moon’s beard absorbed its power giving the vigilante enough time to plant his boots firmly in the sand and strike out with two brutally accurate blows of his own. Both his punches caught the irate trooper on the jaw and sent him flying into a tall garbage bin which toppled over spilling its contents. Before the stunned soldier managed to regain his senses Moon swung around and caught the other trooper with a perfect right cross. The sound of shattering teeth filled the area as the trooper fell on to his knees spitting blood and ivory.
Moon had barely managed to steady himself after throwing the punch when the other trooper crawled from the spilled food waste and then scrambled to his feet.
He threw himself at Moon.
His arms wrapped around the tall vigilante and sent Moon falling on to his back. They rolled through the shadows like battling mountain lions until the snarling trooper lashed out with his boot. As the black leather passed within inches of Moon’s head, the vigilante grabbed at it.
A look of utter horror filled the soldiers bleeding face as he balanced for a mere second on one leg as Moon clutched the other in his hands.
‘This is gonna hurt, friend,’ the vigilante drawled through gritted teeth. Suddenly Moon twisted the soldiers leg so violently he heard the kneecap snapping.
As the trooper screamed in agony, Moon jumped to his feet and jabbed a left fist into the face of the yelling man. The noise suddenly stopped as Moon mustered every scrap of his strength and landed a clenched right cross into the side of the trooper’s temple.
The soldier toppled like a felled tree. Dust rose up from all around his body as it collided with the ground. Moon shook his numbed hands and glanced at the other enlisted man on his knees.
A cruel grin grew behind the silver beard as the vigilante kicked out with his right boot. It was perfectly accurate as it caught the trooper head and sent him cartwheeling.
Uriah Moon watched as the soldier rolled several times before he fell unconscious onto the sand. Moon brushed himself down and straightened up to his full aching height.
The vigilante ran his sleeve across his face and moved between both the resting military men. A wry smile crept from behind his beard as he studied his handiwork. His long fingers rubbed his knuckles as his narrowed eyes looked down upon the loathsome creatures at his feet.
Every sinew in his aching body wanted to draw his lethal Peacemakers and put an end to their miserable existences, but somehow he managed to stop himself.
However much he despised the unconscious pair, Moon knew that he could not stoop to their level. Otherwise he would be no better than them, he told himself.
Moon stared up at the stars and heaved a sigh of relief.
At that very moment, the massive blacksmith strode out from the shadows and looked down at the pair of soldiers stretched out on the sand. His eyes then flashed up at the vigilante.
Big Joe McGraw gave a hearty laugh.
‘You sure surprised this pair of peeping toms, Moon,’ he grunted happily. ‘Damned if you didn’t handle them boys the way I would have done.’
Moon adjusted his black hat.
‘Were you watching the fight, Big Joe?’ he asked.
‘Yep,’ McGraw chuckled before leaning over and grabbing the collars of both unconscious men and lifting them off the sand. ‘It was a pretty good grapple and no mistake. You fight pretty good for an old timer.’
Uriah Moon gave a brief laugh of his own as he stared at the massive man dragging the troopers across the sand effortlessly back toward his huge livery stable.
‘I’m glad you were impressed, Big Joe,’ the vigilante adjusted the leather lace around his beard and watched as the gigantic blacksmith dragged the two men through the sandy shadows. ‘You might have helped me though.’
McGraw looked back.
‘You didn’t need my help, Moon,’ he said gruffly as he continued to walk away with his bleeding burden in tow. ‘You sure know how to handle yourself. Besides I didn’t like to interrupt.’
Just as the vigilante was about to speak again, the door of the small house opened behind him. Lamp light raced out from the open doorway, across the disturbed sand and made his tall frame cast a lengthy shadow.
The vigilante slowly turned and looked at her.
‘Is that you, Uriah?’ June’s distinctive voice made the vigilante smile. Her petite form was perfectly framed in the light that spilled out from the house. It was a strangely alluring sight and drew him like a magnet toward her.
Uriah Moon stopped before her and then removed his hat.
‘Yep, it’s me.’ He sighed, beating the dust off his Stetson against his pants leg. ‘I got delayed by a little bit of trouble out here. It’s all sorted now.’
June Marcus was a sight for sore eyes. A handsome female with just a hint of beauty hidden from the majority but totally exposed to the tall vigilante. It was as though she revealed her true self to Moon. Or perhaps only the vigilante was capable of actually seeing it. Either way, they both saw something in one another that others were blind to.
June leaned to her left and looked beyond the vigilante at the sight of the two troopers being dragged away by the huge McGraw. She then looked at Moon with puzzlement etched in her handsome face.
‘What happened to them?’ she wondered.
Uriah Moon raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat.
‘I caught them snooping at the girls through your window, June,’ he said in a low drawl. ‘I kinda had a tussle with them which got a little messy.’
‘They were looking through my window?’ June leaned forward and stared at the bedroom window and the light which was spilling out into the parade ground. She then returned her attention to the tall man beside her. ‘What were those troopers looking at?’
Moon was not sure the best way to explain. He sighed and decided it was simpler to just tell her the truth.
‘They were watching the girls dressing for supper,’ Moon replied in a low thoughtful manner and then cleared his throat. ‘I think they were quite naked, June.’
Her hands went to her gasping mouth.
‘Oh dear me,’ she blurted out before turning and rushing into the bedroom and closing the drapes. The muffled sound of June explaining to the girls to always close the drapes when they were dressing, drifted back to the vigilante.
Uriah Moon exhaled as he heard her tiny footsteps returning to him. ‘Everything okay?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘Fine. They’re nearly dressed now.’
Moon raised an eyebrow. ‘They’re young. We all make a few mistakes when we’re young.’
‘Come inside. Supper is nearly ready.’ She smiled warmly.
The vigilante entered and shut the door behind him. He stood not knowing what to do next as she fluttered around the room like a butterfly seeking out a flower.
‘Hang up your coat, Uriah.’ She pointed at the sturdy door and the vacant peg. ‘I’ll dish up the food.’
Moon removed his jacket and hung it with his hat on the peg and then looked at the table which had been prepared for the meal. He was uneasy as this was unfamiliar territory for the renowned vigilante.
Then the girls entered from the bedroom and lingered just below his line of sight. Moon looked down at their smiling faces and their neat dresses.
‘Howdy, ladies,’ he drawled.
Josie moved around as though trying to impress him with her choice of dress. As she was about to speak the younger sister moved between them.
‘Ignore her, Uriah,’ Betty grinned cheekily. ‘She’s just looking for compliments as usual.’
Moon nodded. ‘You both look very pretty. A whole lot better than when we first me.’
‘Thank you.’ Josie smiled.
Betty whispered. ‘They made us have a bath. A bath with soap and a brush to scrape the dirt off our backsides.’
Moon muffled his laughter with a cough.
Josie shook her head.
At that moment June called from the kitchen area at the girls and their guest.
‘It’s only stew, I’m afraid.’ June dished four platefuls of stew on to her best fine china. ‘I hope you like it. Come and help me, girls.’
‘Stew is just fine, June,’ Moon said.
He watched as the females carried the plates carefully from the kitchen range to the table and set them down. The girls sat down as June gestured for the vigilante to also seat himself at the table.
Moon said nothing as he watched the handsome female sit down and grin at her guests. He then lowered his lofty frame on to the chair and smiled as the foods aroma filled his nostrils.
‘This is the first time that I haven’t had to eat alone, Uriah,’ she told him as the girls started to eat. ‘Not since my husband passed.’
For a moment the mature female sighed heavily as she lifted a spoon. Moon could see that she was thinking of her late husband the way most widow ladies do now and then. She then smiled and began to eat.
Moon lifted the spoon and filled it with the tempting stew and then glanced at each of the females in turn. He nodded at them.
‘This happens to be the first time I’ve ever sat down to eat with three ladies at the same time,’ he informed them. ‘I’m kinda nervous. You’re all so pretty.’
Betty gave a shake of her head.
‘I don’t see how you can get any food in your mouth with so much hair covering your face, Uriah,’ she said with a twinkle in her eye. ‘I bet you dribble.’
‘Hush up, Betty,’ Josie said.
‘We mustn’t upset our guest, Betty.’ June frowned and looked apologetically at the mysterious Uriah Moon.
‘He don’t mind,’ Betty said before turning to Moon. ‘Do you, Uriah? You don’t mind.’
‘Nope,’ Moon replied.
The thought that he had to inform the girls and their temporary guardian that the Hooper sisters would have to leave Fort Hook just after daybreak, nagged at him.
He continued eating. Every mouthful was both a joy and a moment to regret as thoughts of them being abandoned out in the hostile forest known as Satan’s Spell gnawed at his craw. If they even managed to reach the forest, that is.
Moon nodded to his hosts as he savored the stew. It tasted nothing like the vile food he was used to eating. June could cook as well as being handsome, he thought.
The vigilante’s mind drifted to his cousin. For hours Colonel Ambrose had been asking Moon to travel with the golden haired Hooper sisters to the mystical Satan’s Spell. Every time the subject had been raised, Moon had refused.
As his narrowed eyes glanced at their angelic faces he suddenly had to admit to himself that he could not allow these girls to leave Fort Hook alone. They had survived one ordeal and he could not turn his back on them now as they were about to face another.
Uriah Moon had wanted no part of this and yet something deep inside his innards would not permit him to simply turn his back on anyone who needed his help.
It was though some unseen force was giving him no alternative. He had no choice but to help them. No choice at all.
Even if it meant almost certain death, the vigilante had decided to ride with them. He knew that there were probably many other troopers at the fort waiting to take advantage of innocent young girls given half a chance, like the ones he had just fought with.
Whoever Colonel Ambrose chose to escort the youngsters to Cougar’s Bluff, they would be just as vulnerable.
It was a long way to the distant settlement, he silently thought. It was roughly a four-day ride and that meant they would have to spend four nights camping out. Moon had already witnessed how a certain breed of trooper reacted after sundown and wondered how rife the problem actually was.
These were men who had not had any female company since they had been exiled to Fort Hook. That made them potentially dangerous for thirsty men will drink anything to quench their thirst.
He tore some bread apart and started to mop up the gravy on his plate. As he chewed, Moon kept thinking about when he should tell them that the army wanted them out of Fort Hook.
‘Would you like some more stew, Uriah?’ June asked as she noticed he had nearly finished his meal. ‘I made plenty.’
The eyes of the vigilante glanced across the table at her and he smiled. A burning passion was brewing inside him but for some reason he felt unable to act upon it. June was different to other females, he thought. She was too good for the likes of him.
‘Thanks, June,’ Moon nodded and picked up his plate and trailed the handsome beauty into the kitchen area. ‘That’s the best stew I’ve tasted in a long while.’
As he placed the plate down and June started to ladle more stew from the cooking pot onto his it, she noticed that something was troubling the mysterious vigilante. She stopped, returned the ladle to the pot and stared into his mysterious face as though she could see into his soul.
‘What’s wrong, Uriah?’ she asked touching his bruised knuckles. ‘Something is worrying you. I can tell.’
Moon lowered his head.
‘You’re right,’ he reluctantly admitted.
‘What is it?’ She pressed with a swift glance over her shoulder at the youngsters at her dining table. ‘Is it to do with Josie and Betty?’
Uriah Moon nodded and then explained. He told her that the army wanted the girls sent out of the fort at dawn the following day.
As the words left his mouth, her expression suddenly changed from enjoyment to that of fear. Fear of what potential horrors waited between the fortress and Cougar’s Bluff. For June Marcus had also heard the torrid tales concerning Satan’s Spell.
‘I simply don’t understand, Uriah,’ she said.
‘Me neither,’ the vigilante sighed.
‘Does the colonel agree with this decision?’ she shielded the sight of her tears from the laughing youngsters less than ten feet away from where she and Moon were standing.
Moon stroked his beard and shook his head. ‘Nope. But Ambrose is an army man through and though and it just ain’t in his make-up to disobey orders.’
‘But don’t fret none,’ Moon drawled in a low whisper. ‘I’m going with them to make sure they reach their destination safe and sound, June.’
June handed the plate to her tall guest and forced a smile at him. The vigilante nodded and shrugged as he returned to the table with his second helping.
The girls smiled at the handsome female as she walked back to the table and seated herself opposite the silver haired man. Neither Josie or Betty had been so happy since they had witnessed her parents slaughter.
The small house filled with the laughter of the young girls.
The vigilante did not want to spoil the moment for he knew from experience how rare such moments were. He glanced at the quiet June as she resumed her supper.
The golden haired girls did not notice her tears, but Moon did. He kept eating and said nothing.
He made a silent vow to himself. It was one that he was determined to keep. Moon would provide them with protection and get them safely to their destination whatever obstacles were placed in his path along the way. He knew of the dangers that lurked in the enormous forest and had heard many of the stories that surrounded the notorious Satan’s Spell.
But it did not matter to Uriah Moon.
He would protect them, whatever the cost.