THE DARK HEAVENS were still resounding to the strange storm clouds that were battling far above them. Thunderclaps rocked the massive wall of swaying trees as blinding lightning forked across the night sky above them. Rain thrashed down upon the lawless land but the two horsemen noticed none of it. They halted their bedraggled mounts and stared at the black trees which faced them like giant adversaries. The tall vigilante remained totally expressionless as he glared at the daunting sight for Moon had other things on his mind.
He knew that the three gunmen were heading through the massive forest and had vowed to halt their progress in his own unique fashion.
The rain eased momentarily as Uriah Moon glanced across at his fellow horseman. This was the first time that the expressionless vigilante had ever seen the youthful Billy Rocco without an impish grin on his face.
‘You ready to enter this damn forest, Billy?’ Moon drawled as he took a mouthful of water from his canteen before spitting at the ground.
‘I’m ready, Moon,’ Billy said as he steadied his quarter horse beside the gelded mustang. ‘You lead the way and I’ll follow.’
Moon screwed the stopper back on to the neck of his canteen before hanging it from his saddle horn. His icy blue eyes dazzled in the flashes of lightning which snaked across the sky all around them.
‘You sure you wanna risk your neck travelling with me in there, Billy?’ Moon checked as he wrapped his long leathers around his left wrist. ‘This ain’t no picnic we’re headed into. If I tangle with them bank robbers, they’ll start shooting. I can’t promise you’ll come out of thing unscathed.’
The smile returned to the face of Billy Rocco. He looked up at the daunting Moon and winked.
‘I figure it’s safer with you in there, than staying out here in this damn storm,’ he chuckled as a deafening thunderclap shook the ridge they were holding their mounts in check upon. ‘Besides, if I went home to the Double K, they’d only make me work. I don’t mind getting shot at if I don’t have to work.’
‘It depends what you mean by work, Billy.’ Uriah Moon raised an eyebrow and tapped his spurs.
The riders guided their horses toward the forest and entered the darkness. For a few moments as they rode along the trail which wove between the moss covered trees, both the cowboy and the vigilante did not notice anything untoward. Then as lighting illuminated the forest interior for a split second, Moon spotted something.
Moon glanced at the cowboy following in his wake. Without words the pair communicated as Billy drew his quarter horse level with the far tall rider. Moon gave a nod of his head as he eased back on his reins. The young cowboy reached across and took hold of the gelding’s bridle.
Still remaining silent, Moon dropped from his mount, took a couple of steps and then knelt as he stared ahead through the eerie twilight at something which was barely visible in the gloom. Billy dismounted and moved to the shoulder of the vigilante. He dropped on to one knee and squinted.
‘What you seen, Moon?’ he whispered.
Without uttering a word, Moon raised his free hand and pointed a long finger to their right.
‘There’s something out there, Billy,’ Moon said dryly.
The cowboy strained his eyes but could not see anything amid the ocean of tree trunks and moss covered rocks. He looked back at his mentor.
‘What the heck can you see?’ he croaked. ‘I don’t see nothing but a whole heap of trees.’
Moon slowly rose to his full impressive height as the cowboy copied his actions. Moon pointed again. This time to a different part of the dense forest.
‘It’s over there now,’ he muttered in a low growl. ‘Either that or there are two of them.’
Billy shook his head as though admitting his failure to see what his companion has spotted. He sighed heavily and looked into the bearded face of the vigilante.
‘What is it you’ve seen, Moon?’ he probed.
‘Let’s go find out.’ Uriah Moon turned, grabbed his saddle horn and mounted in one fluid action. He waited until his young friend had also managed to scramble upon his horse before tapping his spurs and starting his horse walking steadily along the seldom used trail.
A thousand questions filled the mind of the young cowpoke as he steadily rode just behind the tail of the mustang. His imagination screamed out for answers but Billy could not provide any of them.
Utterly confused, Billy followed the tall vigilante toward the place which had drawn Moon’s attention. Brief flashes of devilish fury erupted again as a sheet of lightning highlighted the interwoven tree canopies. Splinters of light lit up the interior of the dense forest for the briefest of moments.
Moon raised a hand and pointed at a gully less than fifty feet from where they were. He turned to the cowboy and then returned his ice cold stare at the gully.
‘It’s in the gully,’ he stated firmly.
The cowboy leaned over the neck of his walking mount and vainly tried to look into the face of the vigilante. It was impossible.
‘It is?’ Billy said before adding. ‘What is?’
Moon did not answer as they neared the deep impression in the ground. He hauled back on his reins and stopped his gelding before looping a leg over the animal’s head and dropping quietly to the ground. He tossed his long leathers into the hands of the cowboy and immediately started moving toward the lip of the gully.
The gully was full of untamed vegetation smothered in shadows which tormented the eyes. He tilted his head and listened for a few moments. His eyes could no longer detect what he had spotted a few moments earlier but his ears could.
Billy watched from his high perch as the tall vigilante suddenly vanished from view and descended into the ravine. With the prowess of a wild cat hunting its prey, Moon travelled quickly and silently.
The darkness of the gully and its surroundings concealed everything from the cowboy. He squinted hard but could not see anything apart from the moss covered boulders and tall trees which fringed the gully.
Billy Rocco began to become concerned after a few endless moments as he sat astride his nervous mount. He stood in his stirrups and looked up and down the length of the gully but could not see anything. Anything apart from the strange foliage which filled the hollow.
Unable to control his curiosity the young cowboy dismounted and secured both their horses to nearby trees. He cautiously approached the gully and then heard movement below him in the depths of the shadows. He stepped back as his fertile mind started to wonder what exactly could be hidden in the thick entangled weeds.
The cowboy was well aware that the forest was full of creatures that knew this terrain far better than any two legged intruders. Bears, wolves, coyotes and mountain lions to name just a handful. He began to wonder if the fearless vigilante might have fallen foul to any of them down in the gully.
His blood chilled at the thought. Then he heard a noise below in the gully. A noise which alerted the cowboys keen senses that something was headed back up toward him.
Something which sounded very large.
Terror filled the cowboy as his eyes vainly attempted to see what exactly it was that was scrambling up toward him. He took another backward step.
‘Is that you, Moon?’ he called out as his fertile imagination considered what else might be lurking in the gully below his boots. Billy drew his six-gun in anticipation of a cougar or perhaps a hungry bear attacking.
Then the shadowy brush which filled the gully moved as something large started to make its way out of the depths toward the cowboy.
Billy Rocco stepped further back and tried to pull on his gun hammer but his hand was too wet to successfully prime the weapon. His wild imaginings were becoming a reality and he suddenly realized that he was ill-equipped to handle.
Terror filled every sinew of the distressed youngster as he slowly backed further away from the edge of the gully. Billy was a good fifteen feet from the gully when he saw something emerge from its depths.
As his heart pounded like an Apache war drum inside his chest, Billy saw the tall vigilante break free of the thorny briars.
Moon glared at the frightened cowboy.
‘Holster that damn gun, Billy,’ he ordered through gritted teeth. ‘I ain’t in the mood to get shot at the moment.’
Billy did exactly as he had been told and pushed his six-shooter into his holster as he noticed that the mysterious vigilante was towing something behind him.
‘What you got there?’ Billy asked.
Moon did not reply. He turned away and tugged hard at something which was shrouded in darkness. Something which was also scrambling from the depths of the gully. As the cowboy approached he was suddenly taken aback by a loud sound which seemed to echo all around the forest.
Moon mustered every last scrap of his strength. Then to the surprise of the cowboy he saw a saddle horse emerge from the gully and its choking brush.
As the scratched and bleeding horse reached level ground, the vigilante paused and stroked the neck of the terrified animal as Billy approached.
‘Does this horse belong to any of the critters you’re hunting, Moon?’ he asked. ‘Is this one of them bank robbers mounts?’
‘Hardly,’ Moon said as he encircled and checked the horse carefully. The tall vigilante paused across the back of the animal and patted the saddle. ‘This is the horse that Trooper Davis was riding. Look at its saddle. It ain’t nothing like the type of saddle regular folks use.’
‘It ain’t?’
Moon shook his head and rounded the animal again until he was standing beside the cowboy. He pointed at the saddle again and the hollow cut out of its core.
‘Only cavalrymen have holes cut in their saddles, Billy,’ he said. ‘For some reason they always do that.’
‘Why?’ Billy wondered aloud.
‘Damned if I know,’ Moon said before turning and striding back toward his own gelded mustang. ‘Maybe they like keeping their long-johns ventilated.’
Billy ran after his companion as Moon hauled his long frame on to his mount. The cowboy joined the vigilante and threw himself on to the horses back. As he gathered up his reins he looked back at the troopers abandoned horse and then looked at Moon.
‘What we gonna do with that mount?’ he asked.
‘We’re leaving it here, Billy,’ Moon drawled as he stared further along the trail. ‘It’ll be fine. There are plenty of things for it to eat.’
‘There are also plenty of wild critters that might care to eat it, Moon,’ Billy stated as he fearfully looked all around the area at the shadows which loomed around them. The forest was devilishly haunting even in the daytime but at night during a storm, it became terrifying. Countless trees loomed over them like mythical giants. The rumbling of thunder appeared to be coming from all directions as lightning continued to light up the trees.
Uriah Moon did not say a word.
He turned his horse and started to ride along the trail as he resumed his quest to locate the bank robbers. As the young cowboy drew level with the wide-shouldered horseman he leaned across toward the vigilante.
‘Did you find that trooper boy?’ Billy asked as he got his mount up to speed. ‘Was he in that gully?’
Moon looked back at the cowboy.
‘Nope. Davis wasn’t anywhere in that gully. I searched every inch of the weed filled ravine but he wasn’t there.’
‘Where is he?’ Billy wondered aloud.
‘Damned if I know, Billy,’ Moon uttered as he gripped his long leathers tightly in his hands and stared through narrowed eyes at the mist covered trail ahead of them.
The horsemen rode for another hour. The trail wound its way around the hills but neither saw nor heard anything apart from the raging mayhem that still reign above the trees. The sound of thunderclaps urged them on and lulled them into a false sense of security.
A mile or so ahead, a lethal rod of lightning forked down from the heavens and hit a tree. Its trunk seemed to swell before it exploded into a million burning splinters. The deafening eruption sent a million red hot splinters cascading in every direction from the burning length of the tree trunk. It was like a swarm of crazed fireflies had suddenly been released from the very bowels of Hell.
Both Moon and Billy Rocco were startled by the violent explosion as they neared the crippled pine. Merciless nature had gotten their full attention.
Moon slowed his mount and stared into the gloom between the burning tree and themselves. Then as more lightning erupted above the tree canopies and temporarily lit up the trees they were approaching, Moon saw another vision.
This one was horrific.
He raised a hand and pointed.
‘Look, Billy,’ he drawled.
The young cowboy looked and felt his throat tighten. His fingers loosened his bandanna as both he and the vigilante approached the hideous sight.
Moon pulled back on his leathers and stopped his gelded mustang in its tracks. His unblinking eyes stared through the twilight at the sight which faced them. Even he had never seen anything like it.
‘Now ain’t that a pitiful sight, Billy boy?’ the vigilante whispered in a low guttural drawl.
‘Reckon we just found that soldier boy, Moon,’ Billy said as he turned away from the sickening vision and inhaled deeply in an attempt to keep his last meal down.
‘Yep,’ Moon said thoughtfully. ‘That’s Trooper Davis alright. At least what’s left of him.’
‘Are you sure?’ the cowboy queried.
Uriah Moon stroked his long beard and shook his head.
For a few seemingly endless moments the horsemen stared at the mutilated body propped up against a tree trunk. Even the shadows of night could not hide the blood which covered the area on and around the mutilated remains of the soldier. Lifeless eyes peered out into the misty gloom from a skull which barely had any flesh still clinging to its bones.
Ignoring his revulsion, Moon inhaled through flared nostrils and tightened the leather lace which held his long white beard in check. He slowly dismounted and then strode to the body.
The tall man only recognized the trooper by the torn and blood-soaked tunic it was still wearing. Over the years Moon had seen many bodies but he had never before seen anything like this one. He shook his head as his mind raced.
‘This poor hombre ain’t been dead very long, Billy,’ he announced as he carefully checked the corpse for any hint of what exactly had killed him.
‘How can you tell?’ the young cowboy wondered.
‘A few things,’ Moon began as he knelt beside the body. ‘The first is that the blood is still wet and ain’t had time to dry yet. The second is that it don’t smell coz it ain’t had time to decay.’
‘Can you figure what killed him?’ Billy asked without looking at the body as he diverted his eyes from the horror that the vigilante loomed over.
Moon lifted one of the bodies arms and then released it. It fell limply which also confirmed to the expressionless Moon that his theory was correct.
‘He ain’t had time to stiffen up yet which means he was killed only a few hours back.’ The vigilante continued inspecting the savagely mutilated corpse.
The cowboy steadied his nervous quarter horse as it shied from the body. He pulled the brim of his hat down to cover his eyes.
‘Looks like the work of a bear to me,’ Billy suggested as he took a quick sip from his canteen. ‘I’ve seen the mess them critters can do to steers back on the ranch. Was that what killed him, Moon?’
Uriah Moon was not as certain as the youthful cowboy as to what was actually responsible for the brutal slaughter of the trooper. The vigilante knew that many things could kill in this untamed forest but over the years he had learned that the worst culprit was usually menfolk.
He raised his head. His ice blue eyes looked across at the cowboy without saying a word. Moon grabbed some pristine grass from near the body and used it to clean his fingers. Soon the gore was transferred to the grass. Moon discarded it and rose up. He turned and then strode back to his steaming horse and rested his hands on the saddle. His every sinew was alert to the fact that both he and his companion were not alone in this strange forest. His narrowed eyes continued to look all around them in search of the killer he suspected was still nearby.
‘What you reckon killed Davis, Moon?’ the cowboy asked once again as he watched the thoughtful vigilante looking all around them cautiously. ‘Was it a bear like I figured?’
Moon still did not respond. He lifted his leg and poked his boot into a stirrup and slowly ascended to his saddle. After pushing his sodden coat tail over his holstered six-guns he sat silently and then gathered up his long reins. His eyes darted around the strange terrain as his thoughts kept returning to the body he had just inspected.
After what felt like an eternity to the young cowpoke, Moon sighed and looked at him. His face was devoid of all emotion as he rested his hands on his saddle horn.
‘A bear ripped him up sure enough,’ the vigilante drawled before continuing. ‘But it didn’t kill him. It was a man that killed Davis.’
Billy Rocco looked totally surprised by the statement as he edged closer to his mysterious companion. He frowned and stared hard into the expressionless face.
‘I don’t understand,’ he admitted as he too looked around the shadows which surrounded them. ‘How can you tell that a bear didn’t kill him? It sure looks like the work of a grizzly to me.’
Moon glanced at his friend. ‘Bears are mighty dangerous but I never met one that uses a six-shooter and a Bowie knife, Billy boy.’
‘What?’ the cowboy gasped.
The haunting face of the deadly vigilante glared across at the cowboy as Moon fumbled in his inside pocket and then produced his tobacco pouch. He began making himself a cigarette as he watched his friend.
‘That pitiful trooper was shot in the heart,’ Moon informed dryly as he sprinkled tobacco on to the paper held between his fingers. ‘I reckon a bear stumbled across his body and just ripped it to bits afterwards. They tend to do that but it sure didn’t kill that soldier, Billy.’
A sense of dread overwhelmed the cowboy as he swung on his saddle staring at the shadows which surrounded them.
‘You think it was one of them hombres you’re hunting that shot him?’ Billy stammered as he nervously twitched. ‘Was it one of them bank robbers that did this?’
Moon shook his head.
‘Nope. Those bank robbers ain’t anywhere close to this place yet,’ he said thoughtfully as he ran his tongue along the gummed paper and rolled it between his fingers. ‘They must be miles away from here. There’s no way Slim Hogan and his gang could have reached here yet. By my reckoning they are further along the trail.’
The thought that there was a crazed killer somewhere close to him and his bearded companion, chilled Billy to the bone. He looked around the darkness and began to imagine that every shadow hid the culprit from view. The cowboy was shaking as he kept swinging around upon his saddle.
‘They didn’t kill that trooper?’ Billy repeated as he began to wonder what actually had. ‘Then who did?’
‘Nope, they didn’t slay that soldier,’ Moon said as he ignited a match with his thumbnail and lit the cigarette between his teeth. ‘Somebody else shot that trooper, Billy.’
Billy Rocco gulped. ‘Somebody else? You mean we got ourselves another varmint to fret about, Moon?’
With smoke drifting from his lips, Uriah Moon nodded and started his horse moving again. He glanced over his shoulder at the terrified cowboy.
‘Yep. Keep your eyes open for another gun-toting hombre, Billy,’ he said dryly before adding. ‘This one must be plumb loco.’
The tall tales of mysterious monsters gnawed at the cowboy as he tried to appear calm to his saddle pal.
‘Loco? How’d you figure that?’ Billy asked as his horse trotted beside the vigilante.
Moon looked at the youngster. His blue eyes sparkled like precious gems as lightning lit up the area around them for a mere heartbeat.
‘No sane man ever kills that way, Billy,’ he informed his naïve comrade. ‘The bear didn’t do all the ripping apart that tore up Davis’ carcass. A man with a mighty sharp knife did most of it long before the grizzly stumbled upon it. It was a frenzied and pointless attack. Hell, the trooper was dead after taking that shot in his chest but the crazy galoot still had to slash him apart with his knife. After that the soldier was left where he fell, the smell of freshly spilled blood drew a bear who just added to the sickening sight. The bear took a few chunks out of it, but it was a loco-bean who executed Davis.’
‘But why would anyone kill that way?’ Billy stammered.
Moon blew a long line of grey smoke at the meandering trail they were travelling along and shrugged. His ice cold eyes continued to study the shadows which loomed all around them in search of the maniac he knew was close.
‘Like I already said,’ he drawled. ‘No sane varmint would kill that way. That was done by madman and they are the hardest critters to figure. What troubles me is that he could be anywhere in this damn forest just waiting to strike again.’
The thought that a knife wielding maniac with a six-shooter was lurking close to them, terrified the young Billy as he levelled his mount as close to the tall vigilante as was possible. Both riders rode passed the burning tree which still smoldered after the lightning strike had forked down through the tree canopies.
They continued along through the billowing black smoke into the misty twilight.
Another massive explosion far above them rocked the floor of the forest as the intrepid Moon forged on in pursuit of his chosen prey. Then lightning peppered the area with rods of blinding light.
Fear washed over the cowboy as he kept close to his silent companion. Billy Rocco was no longer scared, now he was totally terrified.