Rose tried to call her friends but couldn’t make a sound. It was Marion who noticed her peril, as she turned away from the room Kateri had entered. “Rose!” she leapt into the room, Abie hot on her heels, a tomahawk already in her hand. The deputy made a noise that could have been a snarl and reached out a misty appendage toward Rose. Abie interposed herself, yanking Rose backward and taking the full brunt of the supernatural claw as it raked across her left shoulder and down her torso. Blood appeared immediately and Abie set her teeth to keep from crying out. She swung her tomahawk through the mist, gambling on the efficacy of iron against the being, and was rewarded as the Deputy let out a shriek and seemed to recoil.
Marion dug into her coat pocket for her deck of cards and closed her eyes, asking for a share of magic. As always, she found herself at the table opposite the one-eyed dealer. “So, you’re back again,” he said. “What do you need this time?”
“Cut the crap, my friends need my help,” she said. “I need you to load my cards with something that will kill a misty monster.”
The dealer thought for a moment. “I have what you need. What do you wager?”
“My soul as always,” she sighed.
He nodded, then dealt their cards. Marion considered her hand, then replaced two cards.
“Call,” said the dealer.
“Flush,” she said, laying it out.
The dealer slowly put down his two pair. “Cards in your favor this time,” he said. “One of these days, they won’t be.”
“I look forward to it,” Marion said. She opened her eyes, the deck of cards in her hands now warm and aglow with blue light. Virtually no time had passed. She drew the top cards and flung them like daggers straight into the Deputy’s mass. The impact seemed to knock the figure back.
As her friends took the early shots, Rose recovered sufficiently to move out of the Deputy’s focus to try to sneak around again to the marble pedestal to retrieve the amulet. If I can get that rock, maybe I can control him, she thought.
Kateri made her entrance just then, her shotgun in hand. “Stand aside, Abie!” she called. Abie ducked low and Kateri took her shot. The Deputy let out another snarl and changed directions to try to attack her. He was quick, and struck her hard. Before she could react, she felt a black noose tightening around her throat. “Trespassing,” it hissed.
Abie spun as the Deputy darted past and now lodged her tomahawk where its spine might have been, had it been a man. It made another pained noise and recoiled a little. Abie went to Kateri’s side and began trying to pry the rope from her friend’s throat.
Marion threw two more cards, one missed and lodged itself deep into the wall by the window, though the other one burrowed into the Deputy’s head. A deep shudder rippled through the misty form.
At last Rose managed to get to the amulet. She snatched it off the pedestal and put it around her neck. It at once began to glow. “Deputy Black! Stop!”
The creature seemed to turn and mist toward her. “Stop!” she tried again, feeling a dark power start to invade her mind. Focusing her strength of will, she pushed back against the hungering evil. “No more!” To her relief, the Deputy stopped moving toward her and stood still, apparently overcome.
“Release her,” Rose pointed at Kateri. The Deputy moved one misty appendage and the rope went slack. Kateri coughed violently as Abie yanked the rope away and threw it across the room. Silence reigned in the room. “Deputy Black,” Rose said, “for crimes against God and nature in Dolan Springs, you are sentenced to death by hanging. Proceed.”
The figure didn’t move at first, but then took a begrudging step forward. The amulet around Rose’s neck glowed brighter. “You are obliged by justice to carry out this hanging,” she said. “Proceed.”
Another step toward the window. A length of rope appeared, seemingly unbid, and placed itself around the figure’s ‘head.’
“I’m sorry, Judge, it’s the way it is,” she said again, though her tone held less conviction than before.
Another slow step. He was nearly to the window. A pause. The mist rippled back and forth, but a final slow step compelled it through the bars. The rope, just visible, went taut. Abie crossed herself.
Outside, the sky went dark as the moon was covered by roiling black clouds that pounded with the energy of lightning. The women moved to the windows of the room to witness the event. As they watched, a grey figure with a sour look on his face, wearing the traditional garb of a judge, rose from below them and joined the mass in the heavens. The clouds delivered a low rumble of thunder and rain began to pour heavily onto Dolan Springs.
The three women looked to Rose. “How did you know that would work?” Abie asked.
“How did you get him to do that?” Marion asked at the same time.
“The amulet with the etchings on it. As soon as I approached it, he came through the window. I thought he might be guarding it.”
“Well done,” Kateri said hoarsely. “Dunno how much longer I’d have lasted.” She rubbed at her throat and coughed.
“What did we just witness, though?” Rose said.
“I surmise Sheriff Brown summoned the ghost of a ‘hanging judge’ and bound it to obedience to the medal,” Abie said. “In life the judges are known for their brutality.”
“We have to get to Deputy Bradley and let her know what happened,” Marion said.
“What do we do about Sheriff Brown?” Abie said.
“I think it’s best we let her handle him. She won’t have anything to worry about as long as this ‘Deputy Black’ isn’t around.”
“Rose, put that thing on the floor. Let’s destroy it, just in case,” Marion said. “I have one more card just for this.” As her friend laid the amulet on the floor, she stood over it and flung the card straight and true into the eye of the amulet jewel. It glowed briefly, then went dark as the jewel split from top to bottom. Rose went to pick up the oil lamp from where it had been placed on the floor. They went back downstairs, out of the house, and into the rainy night.
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