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IT CAME AGAIN The drea, and then there he was, opening his arood as it had ever been
There was a rumble in the sky, but it wasn&039;t thunder, because there was no rain on the horizon
Instead she saw a red cloud, billowing and rising, and blocking out the sun
And even as the sun sank, the an to rise
She could hear hi her na her to
Run!
Suddenly he was by her side, and they ran together until they reached the caves, the saiven Chief Tall Feather and his clan their name of Cave Warriors
The caves where they interred their dead
They ran through the caves, penetrating deeper and deeper into a maze, until suddenly her father stopped, his face twisted in horror
A trick It&039;s a trap
And then Cody was there
Get away froht not want to, but you can hurt her
Noshe&039;s hter
Then he stopped, and Alex realized both
They&039;re co about her father She knerong The dreaht not happen just as she had seen it, but still, it was a foretelling
Her father was out there Her father, not Cody&039;s, had saved the people who had survived in Hollow Tree
She rolled over, anxious to tell him, anxious to make him understand that she knew-she knew-her father would never hurt her
But Cody was gone, and daylight was streah the
She leaped up and hurried back to her own roo breeches and a shirt again, thinking that this didn&039;t see a ladylike ense soda, then ran downstairs, but before she could get very far, she paused
She could see out the front
And what she saas Linda Gordon, in a shirt and breeches just as she was herself, standing out on the balcony of the saloon
Linda took a look around, then slid town the drainpipe to the ground, kicking up a small clod of dirt as she landed She hurried around back, to the small barn behind the saloon, and reappeared a moment later on horseback
Alex started to shout for soht, and she wanted to knohere the hell Linda was going She wouldn&039;t accost her; she would just follow her at a distance
It would be completely safe
She hurried out the door and around the side of the building, pausing beside theof the dining roo anxiously to Father Joseph "How can we be certain? Cody Fox plans to bring John Snow and his faht, but how can he be certain he&039;s not bringing in-a family of vampires?"
"We just have to trust in Cody-and God, of course," Father Joseph replied
"We&039;d better keep a lot of holy water around, that&039;s all I can say," Bert said worriedly
Holy water
As she passed the back door, Alex slipped quietly inside She found the priest&039;s portainst the wall, where the weapons would be in easy reach whenever they were needed, and she hunkered down, opening it in silence She grabbed several of the vials of holy water and slid them into her shirt pocket She paused, then collected a bow and a quiver of arrows, too, grateful that there were plenty of people to keep carving weapons If they ran out of broom handles and fence pickets, well, the banister could always be taken apart
She hurried to the stables and slipped a bridle over Cheyenne&039;s head, then leaped Indian-style onto the one, but she reainst Cheyenne&039;s neck, saying, "Speed now, Cheyenne We&039;ll slon once we pick up her trail"
The ood
She was ready to race
C ODY AND B RENDAN had started out at the crack of dawn, just as the first pale streaks ofhad cut across the darkness
When they reached John Snow&039;s, thevery well And though last night there had been vampires in the sky, there had only been a few, and they had si "I think they were like scouts, on a reconnaissanceout the dead One or the other But we brought doo of them"
"May we see them?" Cody asked tensely
John nodded "You&039;re just in time We have taken the precautions and were just about to bury the remains"
Outside, behind the house, John had the corpses under a tarp He pulled it back
He had indeed taken every precaution The heads had been removed, and the hearts cut out
Neither had been more than thirty at the time he&039;d been turned, and they couldn&039;t have been turned long ago, since they hadn&039;t immediately decayed into ash or a puddle of putrefaction Cody didn&039;t recognize either ene Gordon, or John would have said so
And certainly not Milo Roundtree
No
Milo was biding his ti his soldiers perish while he tested his prey
"Go ahead and bury the the tarp "But quickly We need you to bring your faht," he said
John frowned, and Cody wasn&039;t surprised He had expected the other ht here We have proved it, Cody"
"John," Brendan said, stepping in, "we know that you and your sons-and your entire faht It&039;s the night of the full moon And quite frankly, we need your help to save Victory"
Cody lowered his head, sely "A united frontYes, my sons and I will help April owes her life to you Perhaps the entire family, since we kno the infection spreads We will come into town It will take no more than an hour to finish with this refuse-" he nodded toward the corpses "-and ride in We will be well ahead of the sunset," he prohouse is full right now The sheriff has taken up residence in the saloon, and there&039;s still room there"
"That will be fine, Cody Fox," John Snow assured hiht"
SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN
Linda was heading for the caves
Alex had thought that she&039;d escaped the other woman&039;s notice, but as she trotted past the entrance to the first arroyo, she was startled to see Linda waiting for her
She had disainst the rock wall
"Alexandra To what do I owe this honor?"
"I&039;ve caught you Red-handed," Alex said flatly
Linda s?"
"I saw you slide down a drainage pipe so no one would see you and ride out of town That see, while Alex was still e
But Linda was apparently not impressed "I&039;m not a vampire," she said flatly
"Then you&039;re infected-and you tried to kill Jigs"
"I&039; weary "And I would never hurt Jigs"
"Oh?" Alex said
She reached into her pocket for one of the vials of holy water, uncorked it swiftly with her teeth and poured the entire contents onto Linda&039;s head
"What did you do that for!" the other wo
She et
Other than that, the water seemed to have had no effect on her
"Oh, my God! You brat," Linda said "You dumped holy water on me, didn&039;t you? I told you-I&039; out here?" Alex dehed "I&039;m here to see your father," she said
C ODY AND B RENDAN returned to the boardinghouse in midafternoon
Cody was uneasy and had watched the sky the entire ride Already it see to a bloodred shade The sun had begun its descent Even though there were still hours of daylight, he could see the pale orb of theto rise
He walked over to the saloon to tell Cole and Dave that John Snow&039;s fa
The ht There were an abundance of stakes set in strategic places, and thesilver bullets Bows and quivers filled with arroere lined up on the bar
"Jigs?" he asked Cole
"Weak as a kitten I don&039;t think he&039;ll do us ht, if the attack you suspect does come," Cole said "But I don&039;t think he&039;ll turn on us, either"
"Someone in this house will," Cody said "Be prepared" He looked around Everyone was present and accounted for-except Linda
"Where is Linda Gordon?" he asked
"I don&039;t know," Cole said "I don&039;t think she&039;s come down yet"
He looked at Cody, then swore softly and ran up the stairs Cody heard hi on her door, then throw it open A moment later he ran back down "Gone," he said
"Watch out for her return," Cody told hihouse He had to one, as well
He ran into Father Joseph-definitely the Lord&039;s warrior-in the hall, inventorying their weapons
"Have you seen Alex?" he asked
Father Joseph frowned "No, but I haven&039;t seen her leave, either"
Cody swore and raced up to their roo into one and then the other
He had known he would be wasting ti them two at a time
Brendan called out to hio with you"
"No, you have to stay here These people need your experience I&039;ll be back with Alex"
He hurried out with long strides, resaddled Taylor and followed the two sets of hoofprints leading out of town
A LEX HAD DISMOUNTED and was sitting on a rock with Linda, sharing the canteen of water Linda had brought
"He never wanted you to see him like this," Linda explained "He didn&039;t even coht away, only when he had no choice and it was time to warn me, and that&039;s when he told me what had happened Milo took hi back from Calico Jack&039;s He doesn&039;t re up in his coffin with a terrible hunger-and an aure out what Milo had done to hie in these caves, where he lived off bats"
"Oh, God," Alex said
"He ca him raw meat and blood frohed "A while back, he took to hiding out in Hollow Tree He knew the town, and he felt safe there, less likely to be recognized But then Milo and his ain"
"I never believed he could be evil," Alex said "But I&039;m sorry I did think you were a bitch and a whore"
"I was a whore-until I ene," Linda said quietly "After hisdeath, I went back to the saloon because it was an easy place for him to come see me"
"I&039;ed you"
"I understand," Linda told her "Your fatherhe&039;s been afraid that you&039;ve been seeing him in your dreams He told me that you have visions"
"Soang to get to people-in their dreaet to you He knows that Eugene is out here somewhere, and once he&039;s taken over Victory, he&039;ll come for him But he has a lot of power He was able to tap into your father&039;s mind, because your father was one of his kills, and could reach you He tried to lure you out, and you were open to him"
Alex shivered, thankful for Cody-Cody, who had saved her
She frowned suddenly, stood and looked out across the plain "Linda?"
"Yes?"
"Over there Is that hi for an answer, Alex leaped up on her horse "Forgive ainst Cheyenne&039;s neck, and the uely aware that Linda was shouting so at her, but she was already too far away and couldn&039;t hear the other woman&039;s words, and she didn&039;t care, anyway
She reached the spot where he stood, reined in and dis railroad frock coat and hat, standing with his back to her
"Father!" she cried, but then the word froze on her lips when he turned, a shter in his unholy red eyes
Milo Roundtree&039;s smile widened as he strode toward her
C ODY WASN&039;T FAR OUT of tohen he realized that the red darkness was descending, and descending quickly He looked up
The sun was sinking far too rapidly