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FEELING AT A LOSS as she wandered the boardinghouse, Alex decided this was a fine ti, hot bath in the kitchen tub Beulah was a wonderful watchdog, keeping the roohted to have the tihted in the soap and sharew restless again Cody hadn&039;t coh Beulah said that Brendan had co her it was for aunder control
Alex helped with household chores for a little while, then wandered into the parlor and sat down at the piano
She thought about the times she had come here and played for her father Even as a child, she&039;d been gifted, or so her father had said She&039;d never parlayed her talent into a perfor career, but she had discovered that she loved to teach, and had done her best to infuse her own love of music into children, and even the occasional adult, she had taken on as students in DC
But as , and as passionate as she usually felt about music, today her etudes and sonatas fell flat on her ears She switched to battle songs, and let her pent-up energy and anger run through her fingers onto the keys When she at last greeary and restless, she turned to see that the household had gathered behind her to listen Only Levy was absent
Her little audience clapped for her-just as they had done whenever her father had dragged the theet practice," Beulah said, then gave Bert&039;s shoulder a sith her dust cloth "Let&039;s get back to work Soon enough Victory is going to be booain, and we need to be ready"
As they left, Alex smiled She wasn&039;t sure that Victory, Texas, had ever actually "booht have been a mind reader She suddenly stuck her head back inside the room and said, "You mark my words-that ill end, and displaced people will be heading West Victory is destined to booh"
After Beulah disappeared, Alex ran her fingers over the keys again and then rose She couldn&039;t stand being housebound She had no intention of behaving foolishly, but it was broad daylight, and she couldn&039;t bear the thought of being locked away froested that everyone stay locked up by day
She wondered as going on down at the jail that was still keeping him busy
Just as she started from the room, Bert came in "Someone to see you, Miss Alex"
"Oh?"
"An old friend"
She walked out to the entry, and there, standing straight and unwavering, not a gliive away the reason for his visit, was Chief Tall Feather Behind him stood two of his warriors
"Chief Tall Feather," she said welcoly, then walked over to hi so stiffly, she hugged him, just as she&039;d done since the first time she&039;d met him as a child
She felt hi away
"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking past hi into town?"
"I had to see you," he said
"Well, you&039;re alelcoet you? I know you like coffee, and Beulah "
She saw one of the young warriors cast a hopeful glance, quickly concealed, in Tall Feather&039;s direction She took the chief&039;s arm "Please, co so to his companions in swift Apache that Alex couldn&039;t follow, but they, too, headed for the kitchen
To Beulah&039;s delight, they made sork of the ain, and they nodded gravely and went out to the front porch, apparently intending to stand sentinel until Tall Feather was ready to leave
Alex led Tall Feather to the parlor so they could discuss the reason for his visit in private There, seated in comfortable brocade chairs, the coffee service on a small table between thehted to see you here," Alex said "My father valued your friendship, and you&039;ve always been like an uncle to h "I know there are those who claiue Apache, but I have co Owl, and ould never have done harm to your father"
She set a hand on his "I know that I never believed such tales And now, I&039;m afraid, we knohat kind of monster did kill h he rarely betrayed e him almost unbearably now
"I have lost both a child and the fine warrior who loved her," he said
"I&039;m so sorry"
He o out at night," he said "And you must believe what Cody Fox tells you I have seen, and I know"
She nodded "I&039;ll be very careful I swear"
"Good Then I will leave you I look forward to the tiain Head Woman is anxious to see you, as are all who know you"
"Soon," she promised him
He rose, and she followed suit As they walked to the front door, she asked him, "Have you seen John Snow and his family recently? I know the sheriff went out to his place, but so ot the chance to ask if everything was all right"
"I haven&039;t been there, but John Snow is no fool Still, perhaps he needs to be warned of the danger Talk to your new friends Perhaps they should visit him"
"I&039;ll do that, Tall Feather I promise"
He left, and after she watched him and his warriors disappear down Main Street, she realized she could no longer stand to stay in the house
It was tiet to know her stepmother
THE CEMETERY WASN&039;T EVEN a round, and it rarely saw any excite, it was obvious that so at the cemetery with its poor wooden crosses and the scrub that passed for ornaraves looked as if they had been dug up again o And Amy Simpson&039;s was one
"Cody, over here"
Cody turned to see what Brendan was referring to and saw the scattered renawed down to the bone Others were freshly decaying
"What is it?" Cole asked, coselective," Cody said, indicating the disturbed graves "Bringing those he chooses into his fold, allowing them to join the band, if you will When his chosen feaken here, they do so with a hunger that burns inside them so fiercely that they can&039;t stand it, but they don&039;t kno to hunt They have to learn They ht, but luckily, that hasn&039;t happened-yet When the dead awaken, they&039;re disoriented They start feeding on small animals, but they&039;re afraid, so they either stay close to their graves or go looking for where they used to live Evidently A out for her mother She was a child when she was taken, so she believes her mother can help her"
"Lord," Cole said softly "Airl Sweet as sunshine It broke her folks&039; hearts when she died So howhow did he get to her?" he asked
"I don&039;t know When we&039;re done here, Brendan and I will pay a call on the Simpsons and see e can find out," Cody said
"Well, then, let&039;s get started," Brendan suggested
"Yes," Cody said "Looks like we&039;ve got five of these things to deal with, so let&039;s each take one and get this over with I want to finish this business while the sun is high"
The disturbed graves were scattered, so Brendan headed to the west side of the cemetery, Cody to the south, and Dave and Cole toward the center
Cody started digging As he had expected, the earth was soft, and it wasn&039;t difficult getting down to the coffin He lifted the lid, which wasn&039;t difficult, either The seals had already been broken
He found hi down at the face of an elderly man He looked as if he had just died, and been laid out for his viewing Cody could see why people had assumed the man had died of natural causes; heon the stone at the head of his grave read "Arthur Connelly, Revolutionary War, a True Hero"
At least the ht for his country&039;s independence, Cody thought as he reached for his stake and hammer
Now the man would have his soul returned, as well
He drove the stake into the man&039;s heart Arthur Connelly&039;s eyes opened for a split second but never even had a chance to focus The creature didn&039;t cry out, only closed his eyes and began to decay
Cody felt nurave and closed the coffin
"Cody!"
Brendan&039;s voice wasn&039;t loud, but it still ent
Cody stared in the direction Brendan indicated Cole Granger had finished digging out A her coffin, but he clearly hadn&039;t been prepared for what he had to do
The sheriff was down in the dark earth with Airl into his arms
Cody looked up to the sky Old vah they weren&039;t at their most powerful and were far more vulnerable than in the dark But they could still rip out the throat of an unwary soul Amy was a new vampire, but she had been made by one of the most powerful vampires Cody had encountered to date, so
"Cole!" Cody shouted, and raced across the graveyard
"She&039;s so precious," Cole said, holding her as if to defend her from Cody "Couldn&039;t there have been a ed to crawl her way out Maybe-"
"Cole!" Cody yelled again
A red cast, and a look of vicious pleasure curved her lips She started to draw therave, ripping the girl fro her with his foot, realizing suddenly that his stake and hairl thrashed with surprising power beneath hi a stake in his direction Cody caught it and slaht
Little Amy Simpson went still at last
Cole stared down at her with horror, then turned to Cody, his eyes ith horror "Sweet Jesus, this is all for real"
Cody gripped the sheriff by the shoulders "You&039;re a good man, Cole You don&039;t want to see evil in as once innocent, but this is turning into an epidemic You can&039;t let them trick you, can&039;t let your heart take over fro to be hard on you, because-you know all these people But God helpyou, but if I have to? I won&039;t hesitate" He met Cole&039;s eyes and held the stare until the other ain"
Cole stared back at hi "It won&039;t I&039;m the sheriff, and I knowit hard to stake a child in the heart Youbut ice in your veins, but that was a child I knew"
Cody nodded Cole Granger was as tightly wound as a piano wire, and his jaas locked hard
It was like the first time the friend next to you on a battle line was suddenly blown to bits, Cody thought You&039;d have to be made of stone to take it in stride
Cole bent down and severed Aht, and looked down at his boots, wincing He shouldn&039;t have allowed Cole to be the one to dig up Arave
No, maybe it was better this way Now Cole would be prepared for anything And anything just ht come their way
"Oh, hell!" Dave suddenly cried out
He was standing by the last of the disturbed graves and looking over at thereen
"What is it?" Cole de toward his deputy, though he looked as if he&039;d been run over by an entire wagon train himself
Dave didn&039;t answer, so Cody walked over to join the two rave, along with a stone ed up fro on it
Cody looked down at the grave marker, and his heart sank when he saw the naene Alexander Gordon
And below that:
Beloved Father, Best Friend and Philosopher