Sympathy for the Devil - By Tim Pratt Page 0,70

be. The Devil couldn’t leave an unfulfilled contract behind him. “That’s the deal. And you,” Bill added bitterly. “Are a man of your word.”

The Devil’s howl tore the world apart. McGregor’s heart stopped dead and then banged like a hammer against his ribs. His knees gave out, toppling him onto the ground. Ned lay there next to him. Ned who had all the guts of the pair of them. Ned was bleeding and crying. Crying like a baby.

Bill shouted to drown the crying out. “You cannot leave!” McGregor raised his head and saw all the fires of Hell raging in the Devil’s eyes and he knew he’d guessed right. Triumph rang through him. “You got a deal with me to play until one of us is cleaned out! You cannot do anything else, ever, until I lay my bet down! And I will not do it until we have a bargain!”

“You don’t have the will, McGregor!” The blast from the shout bowled the gambler backwards.

Painfully, Bill hauled himself back onto his knees. “Want to bet?”

The Devil swept his fist through the air.

Everything vanished. There was not even a mist. McGregor smelled nothing, heard nothing, had no ground beneath him. He had only his eyes, and all he saw was the Devil.

“I will leave the Cheyenne alone,” growled Nick Scratch.

Bill could not move any part of himself but he could speak as he had in the dream Wihio led him through. “That’s a start.”

The Devil’s eyes turned blood red. “I will return the lives you bet on the faro table and I will touch them and theirs no more.”

“Not enough.”

“Gambler,” the word filled the universe. “What do you want?”

“Ned Carter’s soul,” said Bill. “And mine.”

The Devil’s face twisted. His mouth worked itself back and forth. At last he said “I have not had your soul since you tried to stop the riot in Fort Summner.”

A warmth that had nothing to do with the Devil’s head spread through McGregor. “I want this notarized.”

The Devil bared his teeth. “You had better tread very carefully the rest of your born days, McGregor.” Wihio stood beside the Devil now, hat and all. “Wihio,” said Nick Scratch. “If I break my treaty with Bill McGregor, you may hand me over to the Master of Heaven.” Each word sounded like a branch snapping in the fire.

“It is well, Foul One.” Wihio bobbed his head and smiled.

The world dropped back into place in a rush of burning wind and bright sunshine. Bill looked at the table, calculated the state of play and set his gun down on the eight card.

He didn’t even see the game vanish. His posterior hit the ground, jarring all the breath out of him. For a moment, Bill blinked stupidly up at the cloudless sky.

A wrinkled hand reached into his line of vision. Bill let Fallen Star help him to his feet.

“Thank you,” Bill ran his hand through his hair. Long Nose handed him his hat. He nodded to the silent brave.

“We thank you, Gambler,” Fallen Star said. “Now,” Sunlight caught a spark deep in the medicine man’s eyes, “I would ask you to please leave this place.”

“What?” Bill pushed his hat down over his rumpled hair and holstered his gun. “After all that? How about that land you promised me?”

Fallen Star sighed. “I will take you to where we found the stone, if that is what you wish, but hear what I say first.

“Our people take the war trail against each other. Your people have too much hunger for things which are not yours and we have too many young men like Standing-in-the-West.

“You have done us a great service. I do not want to hear that one of my braves has taken your life.”

Bill dug his hands into his pockets. A scrap of fur brushed his palm and Wihio’s mocking presence brushed his mind.

He sighed. “Just as well, I suppose. I’d just about made up my mind to go straight anyways.” He held the coyote tail out to the medicine man.

“To keep away your Devil?” Fallen Star accepted the token.

McGregor shook his head. “No. To get him good and mad.” He cracked a smile. “It’s the only revenge I’m likely to get on him for letting Ned die.” He dug his hands into his pockets. In a strange way, he actually had lost his life on that faro table. Only he hadn’t lost it to the Devil. Bill glanced at the clear, blue sky. Well, his father’d be pleased anyway.

Fallen Star raised his