Caleb’s heart sinks into his stomach as he realizes he is trapped at gunpoint. Johnny gasps and puts his hands up, blocking his face from the barrel pointed at him.

  “I don’t know who this is, Silas. He just ran in and started shooting at me!” Johnny drops to his knees and begs. He glances at Caleb, silently begging for help.

  “What is a rat like you doing in my quarters, huh?” Silas turns his head just enough to put both men in his sight. “I heard that one of my men got drunk down at the Cactus Moon. Crumbs from loose lips make the rats hungrier.” Silas reaches behind his back and pulls out a grain sack. He throws it towards Caleb’s feet with an audible thud. Caleb looks down to see blood seeping through the light brown sack.

  “Open it,” Silas commands. His blue bandanna hangs under his chin, and a worn felt hat shadows his eyes. He points his rifle at Caleb.

  Caleb flinches when he sees the barrel of the rifle and leans in to open the sack

  “

  Caleb looks around for an escape, hoping that Johnny will make a move. Johnny sadly disappoints, now shielding his face from what lies in the sack. Caleb peels back some of the bag to reveal a man’s head. Blood spatters across what he can see.

  “I have no use for a man who spews my secrets so easily.” Silas spits towards the bloodied bag. “Now, tell me why you are here, rat?” He takes a deep breath in, angling his nose upwards. Silas squints his eyes and inhales swiftly through his nose. Caleb had a dog back at the farm that would do this if Pa was cooking something good.

  “

  Silas looks at Caleb and grins. “Not only did I catch a rat in my room, but it brought me a gift. I can smell your card, little rat. Hand it to me, and I’ll free you from your trap." He extends his hand out towards Caleb, causing his rifle to drop to his side.

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  “

  Caleb watches Silas’ grin fade with a quick tug. Fear replaced fury in his eyes as he realized that Johnny had grabbed his rifle from him. Johnny takes a step back, awkwardly holding the lever-action rifle underneath his armpit, and opens fire.

  A shot rings out, filling the tent with more gun smoke than before. Caleb jumps back at the sound and pulls his old revolver out of his hip holster. He instantly notices that Johnny has never fired a weapon before. He watches as he tries to squeeze the trigger over and over, not realizing that you need to work the lever to fire another round.

  Silas stumbles back a bit before charging at Johnny. Droplets of blood on the sand by his feet. Caleb sees Johnny try to swing the rifle at Silas. A punch would have landed better. Silas rips the gun away from Johnny and cocks the lever, chambering another round into the rifle.

  Without thinking, Caleb opens fire at Silas. His back was like the broadside of Pa’s cow barn. Wide enough to hit every shot and protect what’s behind it. Caleb runs his palm over the hammer, squeezing the trigger the entire time. Six bullets are hurled towards Silas in an instant.

  Silas falls forward, dust clouds out from underneath him as he hits the ground with a loud thud.

  Johnny and Caleb stand there, frozen in shock at what lies at their feet.

  “Is he dead?” Johnny breaks the silence with a sharp whisper. “Caleb, he’s not moving.”

  “Oh fuck. I just killed him.” Caleb feels tremors run through his body. He feels them rattle their way into his shooting hand.

  “

  They watch as Silas’s card begins to materialize over him. The two men look at each other, afraid to make a move towards the card.

  “Caleb, you take it. I would’ve been killed twice without you.” Johnny takes Silas’s hat and places it on his own head. “Just let me take some of his stuff. He left me with nothing when I was kidnapped. Does that seem fair to you?” He pauses, waiting for Caleb’s approval.

  “Deal,” Caleb says, eyes locked onto the card.

  He walks up to Silas as Johnny begins gathering stuff around the tent. The card slowly spins above Silas’s back. He kneels, eager to see what card could sniff him out so quickly.

  The Jack of Spades stares back at him from the center. But the face on the card isn’t smiling like a normal playing card.

  A gaunt hunter stands in its place, cloak snapping in an unseen wind. At his side crouches a massive black hound, nose pressed to the ground. The spade symbol above them looks almost like a spearhead dripping ink.

  At the top reads the name “Black Hound.”