let it flash in the afternoon sunlight. "Now then, let's go win us back a mine."
The men gave a half-hearted cheer through their bandanas, raising their crosses in the air. Cora waved her saber in a circle over her head, then sat down and turned Our Lady of Virginia toward the mines. Ben and James rode on either side of her, and the rest of the men filed into two columns behind them.
"Ten men is the best you could scare up?" Cora asked, giving James a sidelong glance.
"It isn't as though Lord Harcourt keeps a standing army of vampire hunters living at his private retreat, Mrs Oglesby," James said. "I had to make do with what I could find."
"What did you find?"
"Stable hands. Butlers. Whoever had a free afternoon," James said.
Cora turned her head to stare at him. "You ain't serious?"
"Of course," James replied, returning her gaze. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because we can't take a bunch of stable boys into a nest of vampires. Ain't you got hunters or hounds or something a little more able? Ain't you and Harcourt into hunting like that other British lord feller up there in Estes Park?"
"Oh my, no," James said. "Lord Harcourt finds hunting rather distasteful, and I must say I share the feeling. We both find scholarly pursuits much more rewarding."
"That don't sound familiar at all," Cora said, tossing Ben a look. "I swear, I don't know why I came out here without my bottle. Killing vampires with a pair of uptight schoolteachers ain't sober work no matter how you cut it."
"Ain't like you done it before," Ben said. "When was the last time you hunted sober?"
"In the farm fields when I was just a sprout," Cora said. "Hunting grasshoppers for my pa."
"What's that?" James asked.
"I was just reminding Ben here that I ain't been sober since I was about ten."
"Are you serious?" James asked, the shock in his voice clear even through his scarf. "You've been a tippler since you were a child?"
"Why, sure," Cora said. "I learned good and young that there ain't no point to fighting sober. I shoot straighter after I've had me a few, anyhow."
"At least until you start seeing double," Ben said.
"Why, I'll still hit both of them between the eyes," Cora said.
"Both of what?" James said.
"Hush up if you ain't going to pay attention, George," Cora said. "Just keep riding that pretty carriage horse of yours."
"I beg your pardon," James said. "This is a thoroughbred hackney from pedigree stock, I'll have you know. The Prince of Wales himself couldn't ask for a finer horse."
"I don't reckon he could," Cora said. "Them's a fine breed for hauling rich folk around all day, but it ain't no riding animal. You'd be better off on a mule."
"Forgive me if I'm not accustomed to riding the same commonplace animals you content yourself with, madam, but my standards happen to be slightly more refined than all of that. It's hardly my concern if you're so consumed with jealousy that you must fall to insults."
"Let's stop fighting, girls," Ben said. "We got other things to worry about."
"You heard what he said about my horse," Cora said. "You think I can just let that go?"
"You will if you want me to hold them boys together," Ben said. "I ain't riding into no mine with a pair of hunters that can't get along for more than half a tick."
"All right, have it your way," Cora said. "I just figured old George would be more grateful for my pulling that vampire off his neck this morning. He ain't said a word of thanks."
"A vampire that we never would have encountered had you not ventured past the barricades," James said.
"Enough!" Ben said, his voice rising.
Cora shot him a look, but rode on in silence. James dropped the argument as well, and pushed his hat down over his ears. The hackney brown held his head high as they rode, his mane shining in the afternoon sun.
Cora turned her head and looked at the line of men following them. They were silent, their eyes forward. She felt a twinge of pity for them. Here they were, a ragtag gang of butlers and stable boys riding toward a nightmare of terror and death. She hadn't been bluffing when she'd told them that not all of them might be riding back out of the mine, but that was before she'd known they weren't even fighters. She thought James could have found a more capable army, even if that meant