“Report: July 16, 1934.” Louey spoke from the back of the Dodge sedan as it rolled along the road. Cal lay on the seat next to him, fast asleep. The plush cushions were soft; they let the boy drift to sleep comfortably. The driver, wearing a distinct plaid shirt, paid neither of them any mind and focused on the road. Perched atop the back of the bench seat was a Red-Tailed Hawk, staring intently at Louey. Even in the car Louey wore his hat. It may have seemed odd to any other driver, but not to the man in plaid up front. Louey patted the hawk on his head.

  “Florida, Orange County. This is Lou Cobb, Ace of Hearts. Following a tip from the Palm Coven witches, I investigated rumors of Yellow Cult activity in the homesteads along the St. John’s River. I made contact with the Yellow Cult performing what looked like a sacrificial rite at a home. I interrogated the cultists, attempting to gain insight into this activity. They were uncooperative, so I scrubbed their ritual. I managed to rescue a young boy. He says his name is Calvin Baird, he looks around ten years old. This has to be Billy Baird’s son. I sensed some Resolve coming from him when I was Resolute. Billy must’ve taught him that. I still have to follow up on Baird’s whereabouts, but I brought the boy with me. He’s an orphan now. I’m gonna hand him over to the Smoky Mountain Sanctuary. This kid has nowhere to go, and he already has some Resolve, so we might as well make a Six-Gun out of him.” Louey took a moment to sigh before concluding his report. “Still no good info on the Yellow Cult. We need to gain some ground on this. This is the fourth killing in Florida alone I have personally witnessed. It’s even worse in Appalachia, and it’s way worse up in New England. This is getting out of hand. I’m headed back up to the Smokies. End of report.”

  The Hawk snorted a bit and tilted its head. Louey cranked the handle for the window and lowered it. Without hesitation the hawk flew right out the window.

  “That’s really the son of the Southpaw?” The driver asked as Louey rolled the window back up.

  “Yeah,” Louey sat back, “I had no idea he even had a kid. Kind of odd he would leave him out here. I definitely don’t recognize that woman he was with, Baird ain’t exactly the romantic type.” He said flatly, “But, The kid’s definitely his son. So maybe he will want to follow in his father’s footsteps. I’m gonna have him join us.”

  “What if he doesn’t want to become one of you?”

  “Well then he can leave on his own. There’s plenty of orphans among us, not all of us are purebred Six-Guns like me.”

  “Heritage Six-Guns, going all the way back to the founding of Grady’s Posse…” The driver mused. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in a family devoted to the cause.”

  “It ain’t all roses.” Louey chuckled. “Now if you don’t mind I’m gonna catch up on my beauty sleep.”

  “Right-o.” The driver nodded, “I’ll drive gentle.”

  Louey leaned back, stretching his legs out comfortably. He looked to the sleeping child, crossing his arms. Dread slipped into his mind as Louey thought about the key detail he had left out in his report. On this boy’s right shoulder, where the cultist had grabbed him, a concerning yellow mark had manifested. Louey didn’t know anything about the workings of the Yellow King’s magic, but he had seen some force enter the boy. When he approached, Louey had deployed a Power Word, Sever, to dispel the active magic at the ritual. Only now did it occur to him that the Sever might not wipe a rune like this one. He hoped that the witches at the Smoky Mountain Sanctuary would be able to do something about it. For the time being, Louey decided to keep this detail a secret.

  ^^^

  “Tell me again where we’re going, Mr. Louey!” Cal asked as he looked out at the mountain range before him. He was fidgety from the long car ride all the way from Florida to North Carolina. It had taken over a week, with the stops they had to make, and Cal had never ridden in an automobile that long.

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  Louey was standing in front of a tree nearby, relieving himself by the road where they had stopped. He grunted a bit as the urine hit the tree bark. “Welp, like I told you we are going to the Smoky Mountain Sanctuary. It’s a place for Six-Guns, like me.” When he was dry he shook himself a bit and zipped his pants back up.

  Louey was a little surprised at how easy Cal had come around from the loss of his mother. He didn’t quite understand how emotionally agile children could be at that age. He knew that his mind was working through the trauma in its own way, so he hadn’t bothered to dwell on it himself.

  “So, Six-Guns are like magic cowboys, right?” Cal had picked up an attractive twig and was swinging it, looking still to the mountains in the distance. Having lived in Florida his entire life, this was the first time he had ever seen mountain ranges.

  “I’ll tell you again, Cal.” Louey came over and watched the fog settle over the mountains with him. “We Six-Guns are monster slayers. We protect people from the supernatural, just like the people did in old times with swords and arrows, only we use our guns. We wear the ‘cowboy’ clothes to honor our forefathers, Gunslinger Grady and the men who rode with him. Just as they rode in the times of the Wild West, we ride now. We follow their ways and use Resolve, like they did. It’s special magic that Gunslinger Grady developed after becoming one with the flow of energy in the world.”

  Cal listened intently. “I think I know about that… But Momma said it was something special just between me and Pa…” His eyes traveled down. To Cal, that focus and concentration that put him in tune with the world was something almost religious. Every time he did it, he felt close to his father. To know that others could do this spoiled the special bond a little in his mind. Thinking of his mother’s words on the subject reminded him that he would never see her again. He sniffed, feeling the tears come on.

  Louey knelt down next to him to get to his level, his leather riding boot crunching a fallen leaf. He pulled the leaf out from under and held it in his hand.

  “I’m gonna share something with you now, Cal.” His voice was a whisper as he steeled his heart to the darkness of a little boy’s grief. It reminded him of his own grief, the sinking sickness of lost comrades, “Let’s you and me focus and use our Resolve, ok?”

  Tears hit the ground next to Louey’s boot. The driver in plaid stood against the car, silent, watching the moment between two boys who both knew loss.

  “Ok…” Cal wiped his eye with his arm. He breathed in deep as his father taught him, trying hard to steady himself.

  “It’s hard to do, at first, when your emotions are out of balance.” Louey spoke softly, “But you’ll come to realize that your emotional state, when properly harnessed, can make you stronger than anything in front of you. Just keep breathing and focusing.”

  Cal continued to put his mind into balance. After a long moment and a few shaky deep breaths, he could again feel the vibrations of the natural world around him. He felt life swarming and teaming in the Smoky Mountains, much richer than the St. John’s River, vibrant and colorful. He hadn’t felt so much before. Swept up in the orchestral vibration of the world around him, he almost didn’t hear Louey speak again.

  “Now focus on this leaf.”

  “But… it’s dead.”

  “I know.” Louey’s voice cracked; his eyes hidden from Cal under his hat. “But feel it anyway.”

  Cal focused on the dead leaf, and as he did he could feel the echoes of energy lingering in its floral capillaries, where water and nutrients once flowed freely. Louey gathered himself and cleared his throat.

  “Even though things are… dead. Even when they’re gone, they’re still a part of all this. Nature doesn’t give them up, they only change. The energy remains. In the ground, in the wind, in us. The falling leaves become the soil under their trees, and their nutrients are shared by the tree again, so it can make more leaves. Things fall apart and come together. This is the world.”

  Louey felt the mountain wind blowing and decided to let the leaf go. It floated off over the trees, to some new resting spot. He leaned on his knee, watching it fly away. Cal remained quiet, taking in what his new cowboy friend had said. Still in a Resolute state, he could feel Louey’s Resolve. It was strong and tall, towering over him like the mountains. He knew now why Louey was telling him this, he could feel in his Resolve that they were the same. They had both been there and seen somebody close pass away. Though he had ridden in the same car with Louey for a week now, he finally truly felt like he wasn’t alone. It was a relief, like a heavy bag taken from his hands.

  “Can we… sit here a minute, Louey?” Cal asked.

  “Yeah-huh.” Louey nodded.

  The two sat there watching the fog roll over the mountains in silence, enjoying the energy of the life around them.