fall and not be able to find your feet." With that, Duggan turned and disappeared into the saloon, leaving Jack standing next to her, looking awkward. Ben waited for the marshal to pass, then slipped through the door and went to stand by his swaying wife.
"It's for your own good, Mrs Oglesby," Jack said, his voice hopeful. "We don't want no trouble."
"You boys already got more trouble than you can handle." She gave the deputy a smile that revealed the gap between her teeth. "I seen what's up there that killed those wolfers, and it ain't a pretty sight."
Her words brought Jack's thoughts back to that clearing, and the sinking dread returned. He ran his tongue over his lips. "You've seen it?"
"Sure as Satan's hooves," she replied, then beckoned him with a lazy sweep of her arm. "Come on, boy. Since you're walking us back anyhow, I might as well let you in on it, too."
They walked her back, one man on each side, as she told them about her encounter in the cabin and the mine below. Ben remained silent, his face thoughtful, but the fear became plain on Jack Evans's face as she gave them a detailed description of the monster. The deputy had joined up with Mart Duggan as a way of making peace with himself for running out on his family back East. He figured that the good Lord would look more kindly on him on Judgment Day if he did his part to keep some of the world's troublemakers under control.
What this woman described wasn't just another troublemaker, though. He wanted to write the whole thing off as a drunken fantasy, but he'd seen that clearing and what was left of those men. If the creature had managed to escape from her, who claimed to have fought things like it before, what chance did he have against it? He hadn't joined a law outfit to fight monsters, and he doubted that even Mart Duggan would know how to fight one. By the time Cora Oglesby staggered into the Northern Hotel, he was already on his way back to the Pioneer in search of his own bottle.
"Well, I'd say you scared him nice and good," Ben said after the deputy left. "Wonder if he'll skip town."
"Oh, he'll pull through," Cora replied. The mattress crackled as she collapsed on the bed. "That sprout has got some guts in him, I think. He needs them to work for a man like Duggan."
Ben sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his boots. "Not really our concern, anyway. We need to work out how we're going to stop that thing you saw."
Cora sighed. The bed felt far more comfortable than she'd expected. The whiskey began pulling at her eyelids, and she gave in after a brief struggle. "I think it can wait while I catch a few winks."
"Looks like it's going to, at any rate," Ben said. He settled himself at the table and stared out the window. Down the street, he could just make out the shutters covering some of the Pioneer's second-story windows. Snow covered the gables crowning the saloon, reflecting the evening sunlight in a sheet of tiny sparkles. Soon, soft snores began coming from the bed.
Cora opened her eyes, then immediately squeezed them shut again. The morning sunlight glared through the open shutters, flooding her head with pulsing pain. She rolled over and pulled the sheet over her face with a moan. After a few seconds, the pain subsided enough for her to remember where she was.
Ben's side of the bed was empty. She called out for him, wincing against the redoubled throbbing in her temples, but there was no answer. Where had he disappeared to? Gathering her strength, she forced herself to peek out from beneath the sheets.
The room was empty, and the door was open. Ben must have left to get something to eat from the common room downstairs. Her stomach rumbled at the thought, and she hoped he remembered to bring her a plate or two. She pulled the sheet back over her head, closed her eyes, and waited.
Soon, footsteps in the hallway announced Ben's return. She opened one eye expectantly, but to her disappointment, his hands were empty when he came through the door.
"Where's my breakfast?" she demanded.
"Downstairs," he replied.
"Why didn't you bring anything up?"
"I wasn't sure if you'd be awake yet," he said, sounding irritable.
"Well, I am. Go get me some flapjacks or something." He ignored her, and