They had caught up to him at last. They were here.
Grey knew that this was all going to end in darkness. In pain.
In damnation.
But he still wanted to save Lucky Bob if he could. For Jenny. For the sake of the people they were. For his own soul.
“Please,” he said, though he spoke as much to the waiting ghosts as to the undead here on the bridge.
“I can’t do that,” said Lucky Bob softly and with his free hand he lightly touched the ghost rock buried in his chest. “Lord Deray’s cast a spell over the rock. Dark, dark magic. So… powerful. You can’t imagine. If I tried to take it out, I’d burn. Do you understand? I’d burn to ashes, flesh and bone… and brain. I’d be every bit as dead. What you’re offering me is nothing, boy. I’ve already lost. I’ve got no hope at all.”
“Listen to me,” Grey said urgently, talking now directly to Lucky Bob. “Your daughter is in this town. If you cross this bridge she’ll die. Think about what Deray will do to her.”
Lucky Bob shook his head and despite everything there were tears in his eyes. “No… Jenny’s already dead. I killed her myself the other night. Shot her through the heart.”
“You’re wrong,” Grey insisted. “The bullet ricocheted off the whalebone in her corset. It saved her the same as my silver belt buckle saved me. She’s alive. Jenny is alive.”
The Harrowed kept shaking his head. “You’re a hopeful fool, boy. Whalebone can’t deflect a bullet.”
“You’re wrong,” repeated Grey. “Jenny is alive and you didn’t murder her. You can still come back from the edge of this, man. But she’s here in town and she’s going to fight whoever crosses this bridge. You know how that fight will end. You know that she’ll die and that she’ll become a slave to Deray. Is that what you want? Is that what you — Lucky Bob Pearl, the man who saved this town — want for her and everything she stands for? Isn’t there anything left of the good man who everyone in Paradise Falls loved? Listen to me, man. This is the truth.”
“Don’t believe his lies, Pearl,” shouted Deray. “He is trying to sow seeds of doubt.”
Lucky Bob walked forward until he stood face to face with Grey. Tears burned silver lines down his face. “My daughter is dead and I am in hell,” he said. “There is no escape. Lord Deray will conquer this world and it will become an abode of demons who are his slaves. That is the truth. This town will fall and it’s going to light a fire that will burn down the whole world. There’s nothing I can do to stop it. There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing that anyone can do. You want to threaten me? You want to shoot me in the head? Go on and do it. It would be a mercy because I am a monster, and I am already in hell.”
Once more Deray’s mad laughter filled the skies.
He’s enjoying this, Grey realized. He’s letting us have this conversation because he wants to prove me wrong in front of all of his men.
“Goddamn it, I don’t want to kill you,” Grey said to Pearl, then he spoke to the other leering dead. “I don’t want to kill anyone except that prick up in that ship. He’s the monster. I want to help you. I want you to help us. Stand with us. Fight Deray. Be free.”
“He’ll burn us.”
Grey sighed. “So will I. If I have to.”
Lucky Bob blinked. “What?”
Grey growled, “You have one chance, Bob. Get off this bridge right now…”
“Or what?” demanded the Harrowed.
“Or I’ll kill you. Right here. Right now.”
“Ha!” cried Deray. “Bold words but an empty threat. These people are sheep to be herded. They are nothing. They can do nothing. They—.”
Thomas Looks Away stepped out from the old bridge-keepers’ shack. He had his Kingdom Rifle raised, but the barrel was pointed not at the undead horde or even at Deray, but at the bridge on which they stood.
Exactly as planned.
They’d discussed this very moment back in Saint’s barn. What to do. How to fight. Killing Deray was a priority, but Looks Away, Jenny and Saint all feared that taking out the necromancer would not stop the slaughter and sack of the town. No, the fight had to be won at the bridge.
Grey pointed down at the boards beneath his feet. “We have it rigged to blow. And before you think that we’ve planted ordinary dynamite, think again. Every inch of this bridge is mined with ghost rock powder and canisters of compressed gas from the smelting factories in Salt Lake. When it blows it will vaporize everything. Every bit of wood and rope and flesh. That gun fires a special round that reacts with ghost rock.” He tapped the stone in Lucky Bob’s chest. “All ghost rock. One shot and poof! You’ll all die. Now and forever. Me, too, but my soul, at least, won’t die with me. Maybe I’ll go to heaven. Maybe I’ll go to hell.” He winked at them. “It’s an even bet either way and I’m willing to take my chances, Bob.” He paused. “Are you?”
Above them, Deray’s frigate was abruptly rising, moving away from the bridge. Grey saw it. So did all the walking dead.
“Your lord and master believes me,” said Grey. “And look at him… running to save his own ass while his slaves burn.” He shook his head. “So tell me, friend, what’s it going to be, Bob? Do you stand with us, or do we all go down together?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” said Lucky Bob. “You know what will happen if you destroy this bridge. You won’t just kill us, you doom everyone in town. You’d be trapped here. You’d all starve.”
“Yup, I reckon so. Actually, I figure we’re dead no matter what happens. Either you kill us and maybe turn us into monsters, or we starve to death. You’re not giving us any cards to play but this.”
“Who knows?” called Looks Away. “We might not starve. We might get rescued. The telegraph still works and we sent a pretty emphatic series of messages. Oh… and we told them about Deray’s plans, too. And about the foreign powers. All of it. Took forever and I fancy the telegrapher’s hand is rather worn out.”
“Nobody will come,” called Deray. His sky ship was probably beyond the reach of fire and debris should the bridge explode, but he was well within earshot from his safe distance. He bellowed down at them in a mocking voice. “Nobody will believe you.”
“Maybe not,” said Grey. “Or maybe they won’t have a choice. Maybe they’re going to have to send someone out to check. Just in case. I expect the Sioux will. They’ll want to know about all those dead red men. And the Rail Barons. The governments of the United States and the CSA. They’ll have to check because, again, you’re not leaving them a choice. And that, you incredible freak, is your problem. You think people will just bend over and take it. You must think everyone is as weak as Chesterfield. You have no faith in people. You don’t understand people at all. And that’s why we’re going to take you down.”
“If I fall,” mocked Deray, “it will be long after you are dead and gone.”
“Maybe. I don’t expect to make it out of this alive. No sir, I expect I’ve just about played my last good card. But I can guarantee, Deray, that you won’t find this country easy to conquer. People will stand up to you. They’ll fight.”
“People are sheep.”
“Think so? Look at this, look at us here in Paradise Falls. We’re ready to blow up our bridge and die to stop you. That’s just a handful of people. Good luck trying to conquer a world.”
Deray’s answer was a mocking laugh that twisted inside the screech of the wind and seemed to shake the pillars of heaven.
In a quiet voice Grey said, “You didn’t kill Jenny. She’s alive. I love her and she’s alive. Let her live, Bob. Be her father one more time.”
Lucky Bob met his eyes, and for a long moment, as Deray’s laughter shook the world, they just stood there. “You don’t understand. He’s… too powerful. He owns us. We belong to him… heart and soul.”