felt particularly uncanny." She laughed at herself. "I mean, it was all uncanny, but some parts more than others, if you follow me."
The hunter nodded. "Things usually is in this line of work."
"It's almost like I lost myself for a while when they were speaking to me," Victoria said. The memory of it made a shiver run over her limbs. "I felt weak and sleepy, even in the face of that danger. I nearly fell asleep on my feet once, and even though I managed to keep myself awake, my head was foggy afterward. The things that woman said seemed sensible, and answering her questions seemed just as sensible."
"She ain't no ordinary squaw, that you can bet on," Cora said. "She got her some strange ways and means. Like how my gun wouldn't shoot at her last night."
"I thought it did," Victoria said. "You shot at her twice."
"With my Winchester, sure, but I was meaning my Colt." Cora pointed to the gun, still holstered around Victoria's hips. "That little shooter ain't never let me down once since I first picked her up. I keep her clean, give her lots of love and oil, and she kills what I need killed by way of repayment. Until last night, that is. I just about fell over from shock when I heard that click."
"Why do you suppose it didn't work?"
Cora shook her head. "Ain't got a clue, but I'd bet the Print Shop on it being part of some scheme or bad medicine on her part."
"Bad medicine?" Victoria asked, cocking her head.
"Bad magic," Cora said. "You know, like witches and them do."
That sparked a memory in Victoria's mind, and her eyes lit up. "You know, now that you mention it, the Indian woman did ask me whether or not I was a witch. The issue seemed to concern her."
"You, a witch?" Cora's laugh rolled off into the shadows. "That's a yarn if I ever heard one. No witch I ever heard of would let herself get roughed up by a vampire. Shucks, even getting yourself kidnapped by them in the first place ought to have tipped them off that you ain't no witch."
Victoria's ears burned. "I hardly think my staying indoors last night was all that foolhardy."
"Think what you like," Cora said, waving a hand dismissively. "You was saying something about our squaw?"
"Yes," Victoria said, eager to steer the conversation away from her mistakes. "She inquired several times whether or not I had knowledge of witchcraft, and even though I repeatedly denied her accusations, she seemed unconvinced."
Cora wrinkled her brow. "That don't make much sense, now do it? If she's a witch - and I do think we're on the right track there - what would she be afraid of another witch for? Maybe she was hoping you would help her out with whatever she's plotting. You know, like a witch sisterhood thing."
"Perhaps," Victoria said, unconvinced. "Still, if she is a witch, how do we fight her? Do we have to burn her at the stake?"
"That's generally how a body settles a witch, if I remember right," Cora said.
"What do you mean? Have you never fought one yourself?"
"Not that I can recollect, and sure not one that can use Indian magic. Most of the monsters I've whipped in my day have been ordinary monsters, vampires and werewolves and hellhounds and the like. Ain't but once I even met another Indian monster, and that was that wendigo critter up in Leadville, what Jules turned into. Wasn't no witch, but it did take a special kind of bullet to kill."
"Your silver bullets didn't work?"
Cora shook her head. "They needed some special Indian blessing to whip it proper. Wouldn't do with my regular old Catholic blessing. Maybe we need something like that for this here new one, too."
"Where would we get something like that?"
"Well, from what I gather, it all depends on which tribe your spook is part of," Cora said. "Like that wendigo thing wasn't content with just any Indian blessing, see? It had to be from the proper sort of Indian priest. I'd reckon our squaw will take something like that." Before Victoria could ask her next question, Cora went on to answer it. "Seems like the Navajos in these parts would be a good place to start. I got me one or two come in regular to the Print Shop. Maybe I can get some tales out of them for a few drinks."
With that, the hunter rose to her feet. "All this jawing