"Not a damn thing," Duggan said. "Ain't my specialty."
"I'll make it quick, then," Cora said. "A vampire is a blood-sucking demon that's made when a man has his blood drained by another vampire. They keep the form of the dead man, but there ain't nobody inside no more, just a monster hell-bent on killing."
She paused, taking a look at the marshal. He didn't seem put off so far, so she went on. "When somebody gets made into a vampire, ain't no saving them. Best you can do for them is kill them quick."
"And you're saying Boots got himself turned into one of these things?"
Cora nodded. "Yessir, and that's what I killed this morning. Not Boots, but the thing that took over his body."
"You're sure it was him?"
"Sure as shit, marshal. Got a good look at his face when I cut his head off. He had himself a fine new set of meanlooking teeth, but it was Boots."
Duggan looked down, dropping his hand from the revolver. He took a deep breath. "So what's that make the feller who's running the Pioneer?"
"Wish I could say," Cora said, "but it ain't human. Don't you worry, though; me and Ben will get to the bottom of it."
"So you're looking for more work, I take it?" Duggan asked.
"Well, as your luck would have it, Lord Harcourt's the one picking up my tab this time," Cora said. "All you need do is cooperate with me and Townsend, and you get these vampires smoked out of your town free of charge."
The marshal nodded, a small smile on his face. "So what can I do?"
"Not much just yet," Cora said. "Just keep an eye on the Pioneer and let us know right quick if anything funny happens."
"That's all?" Duggan asked. "I ain't the type to just sit and watch, especially when something's fixing to kill folk."
"Me neither," Cora said, "but somebody's got to, and me and Ben can't."
"Why not?"
"We're looking to root out the boss," Cora said. She clapped Duggan on the shoulder. "With a spot of luck, we'll settle this before sundown, and you can sleep easy again."
"Ain't having no trouble with that," Duggan muttered, but Cora had already turned toward the door. As he watched her go, he found himself hoping that she was right and they could settle everything before dark. Having that wendigo creature in his town, a threat he couldn't fight, jail, or string up, had made him uneasy. Being uneasy made him jumpy, which was no way for a lawman to be. If there was some other unnatural monster around, he might get uneasy again.
He heard a groaning behind him and turned. The young buck was on his hands and knees, trying to stand. Mart Duggan walked over and swept the man's arms out from beneath him with his boot. The man fell on his face with another groan. Shaking his head, the marshal grabbed the miner's wrists and hauled him to his feet.
Cora walked into their hotel room, pulled the trunk out from beneath the bed, and started digging through it. Slipping a few vials of holy water into her belt pouch, she looked up at Ben, who was seated by the window, book in hand.
"You seen that big old crucifix of ours?" she asked. Ben pulled it from his belt and held it up, his eyes never leaving the pages. Cora nodded and picked out a few silver bullets before closing the trunk. She set the rounds on the bed, pulled out her revolver, and opened the cylinder.
Ben watched her empty the chambers of the spent rounds. "Any luck?"
"More than I thought," Cora said, loading fresh bullets into the pistol. "Turns out Boots was a vampire."
"What?" Ben asked, setting his book down.
Cora nodded. She filled him in on the events of the morning and her conversation with Mart Duggan. When she finished, Ben sat silent for a few minutes, tugging on his mustache.
"I just can't buy that Boots ain't Boots," he finally said. "Why, I had myself some of his whiskey just this morning while you was up in the mine."
"How did he act?"
"Well, he was quiet and liked to glare more than he used to, but I just figured he was working though a bad drunk himself. Never thought he wasn't human no more."
Cora stood to her feet. "Enough jawing. I aim to get to the bottom of this and find out who he really is. Let's get moving."