Walk With Me In Hell

Chapter Two

Burt Hancock pushed open the doors and stepped into the Goldline Tavern. It was barely past two in the afternoon, but the place was already packed with a noisy, raucous crowd. The piano player in the corner was belting out a disjointed tune, but no one seemed to be complaining about the music. Tables were filled with workers, gamblers, tough-looking types, wide-eyed newcomers, and saloon girls in frilly red dresses and thick makeup. A cloud of smoke hung above a few tables where the patrons were puffing on cigars. Burt let himself smile and went over to a small table that was currently unoccupied. He took a seat, set his Stetson cowboy hat on the table, and looked around at the crowd.

He had been in Haventown for two days. Before that, he had spent a week in a town called Davisville, and before that, a place called Dry Valley that barely even qualified as a mining camp. Burt forgot the names of the other small towns he had stopped at along the way. The entire Territory was dotted with all kinds of mining towns, big and small, and it seemed like a dozen of them appeared – or disappeared – every day.

Ever since the folks in a town called Brimstone had come across a strange new mineral called “dark stone” about a year before, half of Arizona had become overrun with every grizzled miner, foolhardy fortune-seeker, and greedy businessman in the country, all hoping to get their hands on some dark stone and strike it rich. The fact that Brimstone itself had been wiped off the map not too long after dark stone was discovered did little to deter them.

Burt was not interested in dark stone. His journey out west was a complicated, circuitous one, without much of a goal in sight. He hopped around from town to town, working odd jobs to make a meager living, going wherever the wind took him. He followed the rumors to Arizona for little more reason than sheer curiosity. Originally from Kansas, he had left his home state two years prior and had been on the move ever since. There was nothing left there for him to go home to.

“Hey there, handsome,” a young woman said as she walked up to him. She wore a tight-fitting purple bodice that had seen better days, a blue dress stained with mud on the bottom from dragging on the filthy tavern floor, and a dark red hat with some feathers sticking out of it. She took a seat beside him and smiled, but it was an empty smile. Burt guessed she was about twenty, but she looked older, even with the makeup to hide the lines under her eyes.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said politely. “Name’s Burt Hancock.”

“My name’s Louisa May Smith,” the young woman said, holding out her hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, cowboy.”

Burt wasn’t sure if she intended him to shake her hand or kiss it. He made up his mind and shook her hand, and then gestured around the tavern. “Nice establishment you got here, Miss Smith. A fella could enjoy himself in a place like this.”

“I bet you could,” Louisa May said with another forced smile. “Could I interest you in something to drink? A whiskey, perhaps? Or maybe you’re thirsty for something else?”

Burt leaned back in his chair. “I could use a drink. But not just yet. Maybe you and me can sit here and chat for a minute or two.”

“Sure,” she said, with a trace of uncertainty. She set her hands in her lap and gave a little shrug. “Whatever you want, sugar.”

“So how’s business doing these days? This place seems pretty lively. It looks like all these fellas have some extra money to throw around.”

“I suppose they do. We have the best entertainment in town, you know. The best selection of drinks in the Territory. And we have the prettiest girls in Haventown.” She said it like she was reading it off a paper but didn’t understand the words.

“How long you been here, Louisa May?”

She paused. “Um, just about two months now. I came from Youngstown. They said there were lots of opportunities here, since they discovered that … those purple rocks.”

“Dark stone, yeah. I heard the mines around here are full of the stuff. You seen a lot of fellas around here that found dark stone?”

“Maybe, I guess so. You thinking about striking it rich?”

“Well, maybe. I was thinking about signing on to one of those mining crews,” Burt said. “I’m just a cowboy, though. I got no experience working in a mine, but they’re always looking for more workers, ain’t they?”

Louisa nodded, looking down into her lap, all traces of a smile gone from her face. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “Every day, more and more men go out to the mines.”

Burt leaned forward and set his elbows on the table. “How many of those men come back, do you figure?”

She raised her head and looked at him. “Most of them. But … not all of them. They’re …” Louisa hesitated and looked around, as if she was worried that someone might be eavesdropping on them. But the tavern was loud and chaotic, and no one paid them any special attention. “The owners, I mean,” she said. “The ones who own all this. They don’t want anyone to know ...”

Burt reached out and put his hand on hers to calm her. “And you didn’t tell me nothing about it. Don’t you worry none, ma’am.”

He had been hearing rumors to that effect for some time now. Whispered stories about dark stone and the mines. Rumors about strange things deep underground, miners going missing or going mad, all kinds of wild speculation about what was really happening in some of the more remote mining areas. Some people told tales of strange animals and creatures that no one had ever seen before lurking deep in the mines. There were stories of entire mining crews disappearing, and even local townsfolk going missing, and even worse than that.

The rumors were being stamped out as much as possible by the wealthy business interests that controlled much of the mining industry. Dark stone was said to be a miracle rock, capable of uses in all kinds of fields, from manufacturing to medicine to weapons of war. People were making a fortune off dark stone, and the powerful companies that profited the most would not tolerate a reduction in the supply. The local businesses kept their mouths shut, out of fear of losing everything. The police, the courts, and the local politicians were bought and paid for. The federal government might even be involved.

Burt didn’t know if he believed all of that, but something very strange was going on all over the Territory. People were going missing, that much was blatantly obvious. And then there was the disaster in the town of Brimstone, where dark stone was first discovered. The authorities claimed that the entire city had burned down in a sudden fire one night, but there were lots of holes in that story. Rumors persisted that the city had been destroyed, although what exactly destroyed it was a matter of much speculation.

Louisa was still sitting beside him, unsure what to say or do. Burt gave her his most winning smile and said, “Tell you what. How about you go get me some whiskey now? Then maybe you and me can talk about better things.”

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