“I can’t believe you trapped the were-squonk in a hazmat sock,” Blair chuckled, when I finally made it back.
“Clearly, you underestimated my creativity under pressure,” I retorted, as Chiara popped the top on a cold one and passed it to me.
“Must be because you’re so much smarter than you look, Wojcik,” Blair replied, getting the last word, like usual.
A week had passed since the were-squonk adventure. I’d hauled my sorry ass back to the B&B, and Sara had taken pity on me, dragging me into the kitchen, pouring me a couple of shots of Jack and patching me up on the condition that I told her the whole story. She knew who Gus really was, a local man who had disappeared one snowy December and whose ghost had been spotted from time to time, unable to pass up helping with a hunt. Sara had poured herself a drink, and we sat up talking for a long while, but injuries, alcohol, and exhaustion meant I was in no condition to suggest anything more. She did slip me her private number before I left. I had already decided to find a reason to head back up there before too much time passed, now that I’d had a chance to go from gun-shy to cautiously intrigued.
“It’s a talent,” I responded, deadpan. “Protective coloration.” I took a sip of my beer, holding my cards in my left hand. The shoulder still twinged from where I’d gotten clawed, but the bump on the back of my skull had gone down, proving Chiara’s contention that I had a cast-iron skull.
She and Blair had presented me with an engraved plaque, the kind that usually has a taxidermied deer head attached to it, with a nameplate that said “were-squonk.” The rest of the plaque was empty, but it was soaking wet when they presented it to me, all the while swearing up and down it had a head attached to it when they put it in the box. Hardy-har-har.
A week of fishing had done me good, and now the poker party weekend was in full swing. Demon lounged beside the fireplace, having stuffed himself on treats that mysteriously “fell” to the floor. Father Leo sat next to his brother Tom and looked like just a regular guy in jeans and a black t-shirt—no clerical collar. So far, he was beating the pants off the rest of us, as the chips in front of him attested. Chiara and Blair were determined to break the good padre’s winning streak, but I wouldn’t have bet on it. Louie had gotten the weekend off and came up with a cooler full of his excellent homebrew ale. My buddy, Dave, had also driven up to join us, as well as Chiara’s brother, Tony. That would make for a crowded cabin, but the girls got the loft, while the rest of us found space for sleeping bags on the floor. We agreed to let Father Leo sleep on the couch, partly out of respect for the priesthood, but more for the fact that he brought the best booze.
The remains of a six-foot hoagie sat on the counter, along with empty pizza boxes, a cheese tray, and several bags of chips, jars of peanuts, and bowls of dip and salsa. A garbage can overflowed with beer cans and bottles, and in the background, an announcer narrated the Steelers’ home game.
I had a crap hand, but I didn’t give a flying rat’s ass about losing. Father Leo said he had a couple of new jobs for me, and the Occulatum wanted me to explain why they got a request from the good padre to make an anonymous donation to replace a park outhouse near Kane. I’d worry about that on Monday. At the moment, I had a full belly, a warm beer buzz, the company of good friends, and the knowledge that I’d done battle with the forces of darkness and lived to tell about it. And right now, that was more than enough for me.
Authors’ Note
This is a work of fiction, so any similarity to real people living or dead is entirely coincidental. The towns and landmarks mentioned do exist, but the businesses are completely fictional, and any similarities are also coincidental.
I grew up in Meadville, and Larry grew up in Sandy Lake, so Northwestern PA is home turf for us. Although we’ve lived in the South now for quite a while, we make frequent visits back and have enjoyed the chance to explore and revisit favorite places when we do our scouting expeditions for this series, the Iron & Blood and Storm and Fury Steampunk series (set in an alternate history Pittsburgh in 1898), and two upcoming series also set in Western and Central Pennsylvania. Rogue, one of our Storm and Fury novellas, is set in and around Meadville, Cambridge Springs, and Mercer back in the Gilded Age.
The Linesville Spillway and its carp are real, and we’ve posted photos on Facebook about the truly massive and closely-packed fish, so you can see for yourselves. Likewise, the Keystone Ordnance Works old TNT ruins are also real—and off-limits. Urban explorers have posted photos online. Gail heard the story about the Nazi sniper from the father of a high school friend, a man who claimed to have done guard duty there in the army during WWII. We haven’t been able to verify it, but hey—this is fiction. Squonks figure in Pennsylvania lore, but remain unverified cryptids. As for Gus the ghostly deer hunter, a surprising number of injuries and fatalities happen in the PA woods due to drinking and tree stands, which are a bad combination.
The text Father Leo quotes at Johnny Vasili is from the Malleus Malificarum, Part 3 Question XXX, and you can find the public domain version here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm03_30a.htm.
This is the first of at least four novellas in the Spells, Salt, and Steel series, so watch for new episodes!
Larry N. Martin is the author of the new sci-fi novel Salvage Rat, and co-author of both the Spells, Salt, and Steel series and the Steampunk series Iron and Blood: The Jake Desmet Adventures (Solaris Books) as well as the related series of short stories/novellas: The Storm & Fury Adventures. He has co-authored stories in the anthologies Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens, The Weird Wild West, The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, Alien Artifacts, Gaslight and Grimm, Space, Contact Light, and Robots.
Gail Z. Martin is the author of Scourge: A Darkhurst novel, the first in the new Darkhurst epic fantasy series from Solaris Books. Also new are: The Shadowed Path, part of the Chronicles of the Necromancer universe (Solaris Books); Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel in her urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC (Solaris Books); Shadow and Flame the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books); and Iron and Blood.
She is also author of Ice Forged, Reign of Ash and War of Shadows in The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, Dark Lady’s Chosen); The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn, The Dread) and the urban fantasy novel Deadly Curiosities. Gail writes three short story/novella series: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures, The Deadly Curiosities Adventures and The Blaine McFadden Adventures. The Storm and Fury Adventures and Spells, Salt and Steel, are co-authored with Larry N. Martin.
Her work has appeared in over 35 US/UK anthologies. Newest anthologies include: Hath No Fury, Journeys, #We Are Not This, The Baker Street Irregulars, and In a Cat’s Eye.
Find us at www.GailZMartin.com / www.LarryNMartin.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin and @LNMartinAuthor, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at DisquietingVisions.com blog, on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin , on pinterest.com/Gzmartin and read free excerpts on Wattpad http://wattpad.com/GailZMartin.