took her time dismounting. Her eyes began searching the area in earnest. Being mounted had given her a feeling of security; if things went wrong, she felt sure her horse could outrun the threat. Without that assurance, she felt exposed and vulnerable.
"Don't dally, now," Cora said, tying the gelding's reins off for her. "Rain ain't going to wait for you to fluff your skirts. Draw your gun and let's get on."
Victoria adjusted her hat to hide her blush and drew her revolver. "What's the plan?"
"Well, from what you said, I reckon we're looking at a vampire nest," Cora replied. "Ain't sure how many suckers there are, though there's bound to be at least two. One of them's the feller what calls himself Glava. He's the more dangerous of them, so don't you go getting it in your head that you can whip him by your lonesome." Cora snapped her fingers as a thought hit her. "Plumb forgot. Here, hold this and give me your gun."
Cora shoved her rifle at Victoria with one hand and held out her other palm. Victoria handed over her revolver. Taking the rifle from the hunter, she marveled at its weight. The barrel must have been ten pounds at least. She had to hold it with both hands, and she wasn't sure if she could shoot it even if she had to. Curious, she pressed the butt up against her shoulder like she'd seen Cora do. Her arm shook under the barrel's weight as she aimed at a fence post across the yard, and she had to lower it after only a few seconds.
"Careful there," Cora said. "You might go and blow your own foot off."
Victoria let out a nervous laugh. "Not much chance of that," she said.
"You an expert on guns now, too?"
"Hardly." Victoria held the rifle in both hands again, her fingers well away from the trigger.
"Well, here's another lesson, then," Cora said, handing the revolver back. Victoria gladly traded weapons. "I've put some of my silver bullets in your gun. They're the only kind that can kill vampires, you follow?"
"Not really, but I believe you."
Cora nodded in satisfaction. "Good to know you ain't a complete fool. Now, even with the silver rounds, you ain't going to kill a sucker if you just shoot it in the arm or somewhere like that. You got to hit them in the head or the heart. I know you ain't big on aiming yet, but try your best. You might get lucky, and luck's half of survival in this business."
"That isn't very reassuring."
"Well, these ain't normal critters," Cora said. "Don't fret about it too much. Just shoot at them if they pop their ugly faces out. Even if you only nick one, it still might slow it down some. Enough for me to get a bead on it anyway. Oh, and use this." She produced a small wooden crucifix from her satchel. "This here will make them go all watery and buy you some time for shooting or running or hollering."
Victoria ran her thumb over the carved image. "Why do they fear crucifixes?"
"Ain't rightly sure, myself," Cora said. "I always figured it was just that crucifixes are holy and suckers ain't. Don't need to know much more than that, really."
"Even after all of your experience?"
Cora pumped the action of her Winchester. "Ain't just vampires I hunted. They popped up every now and again, but they ain't really all that common. Had more run-ins with hellhounds during my time."
"Hellhounds?" Victoria asked, her curiosity suddenly piqued. Maybe that was the name of the black shuck in America. "What are those?"
"Some other time," Cora said.
"But-"
The hunter put a finger to her lips and frowned as she approached the barn. Crouching by the door, Cora waved Victoria over. The young woman hunkered down next to her, careful to keep her revolver pointed away.
"Right," Cora said in a low voice. "This is where you said they had you?" Victoria nodded. "Good. Now, if they're around here still, they probably know we're here. Hard to creep up on critters with sharp ears."
"What will we do, then?" Victoria asked.
"Surprise ain't an option, so we go for storm."
Victoria glanced skyward. "Storm?"
"Not that kind," Cora said. "We'd best be done with this business when them clouds decides to dump on us. What I mean is, we go in sudden-like, try to shake them up."
Victoria swallowed. The man who called himself Fodor Glava didn't seem like the kind to startle easily, and she wasn't sure that slavering