Dunbar came a-soaring back to Chip and Diamond, shame all over his shaven face. “What’re ya’ll waiting for? Let’s get to them ruins.”

  Diamond mounted the other cat bird behind Chip, placing her arms around his waist. They blushed, smiling at one another.

  Their flight took them to a hill which overlooked a pyramid shaped temple. That’s when the cat birdies sunk their webbed, clawed feet into the dark dirt, braking in what appeared to be a panic. The posse dismounted, and Chip said, “What was that?” Bamboos, from the forest behind, looked on in droves, pointing and crying. The cat birds went ballistic, shedding their feathers and squawking.

  Chip raised his thick palms upward in a questioning motion.

  The three observed around for anything that could be causing the hysteria. A dirt road led up to winged and fanged statues. It had to be the craftsmanship of entities.

  Cement stairs rose upwards for miles, leading to lit torches on either side of the entrance. They identified the temple as the one shown to them in a motion picture at the Light Entity Hub— the setting where dark entities, strengthened by blood, disposed of their light entity adversaries.

  But no sign pointed to immediate danger, until Diamond caught what the fuss was over. She said, “Uh-oh. That one’s moving.” A stone puma began flapping its wings; its eyes lit with flames. As it roared and surged forward, racoons spread into hiding. It got ahold of a coati that had a blank stare, tore it to pieces, then secreted blood-filled drool. Seemingly satisfied, it knelt down and froze again.

  “It’s a big bully.” Diamond said.

  “It’s a big auger and evil, but aint it sort of a dark entity version of these light entity cat birds?” Dunbar asserted. He went over to the cat birds. “Ya’ll go fight it. Scram for it, now.”

  The cat birdies squawked in a fit, buried their heads in mounted trees and quivered their behinds.

  “Giant Chief’s blood couldn’t afford anything more useful than these cowards?” Chip quipped.

  “Uh-oh,” Diamond inserted again. The stone puma’s eyes blazed in their direction, and it began stalking back and forth, waiting for them to make a move.

  With little hesitation, Chip jogged halfway down the tall vegetation right toward the puma.

  “Hell you going,” Dunbar said.

  “If it’s a dark entity, it can’t kill mortals.” Chip fired a round which bounced off the puma. It raised above the sheriff and dove down. Before it could sink its teeth in, a bright golden light overpowered the scene, blinding all.

  The javelin had been thrown and was planted in the ground. Diamond was next to Chip, while the puma flew to its escape.

  Right then, a chant hummed from a line of dark robed men and women taking the stairs to the top of the ruins.

  Chip waved Dunbar on. “Looks like the javelin’s effective, and remember, these entities can’t kill us.” They scurried down the hill and up the stairs, easily passing by the dark judges in their trance like states, chanting words too low to be made out.

  Inside the temple, the javelin’s glow led them through a dim tunnel. Halfway down, Chip motioned for Diamond to halt. Her weapon illuminated an image carved on the wall: a long legged, well dressed, dimple faced man, leaning on his cane.

  “Look familiar?” Chip said to Dunbar. “You ready to acknowledge the corn about your so-called evangelist? Why do you think dark entities are carving his likeness on the walls of their temple?”

  Dunbar, for once, had nothing to say; his expression appeared anxious. Chip dashed forward with his gun but quickly came to a dead end.

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  When a hand touched his back, he turned, aimed, then withdrew his weapon. The hand was Diamond’s, and she looked on with concern. The sound of Chip’s boot’s ambling forward stopped. “Shit! They got us, Diamond. We’ve been had. Calamity was never going to be here. The evangelist said something that struck me back at the Fort, and ever since we stepped foot in that ghost town, I’ve been trying to recall it. Now it’s ringing too clear. He said he never expected we’d make it alive to Mexico. How does that square with him, also, supposedly giving Dunbar the witch’s coordinates? How can both be true? Either he wanted us to find her, or he never wanted or expected us to live. It’s clearly the latter.”

  Diamond said, “He set us out on this mission, and he’s directing that priest who sent you on a wild goose chase.”

  Chip nodded, sweat sliding down his countenance. “The evangelist has been working with the dark entities all along.” Something ahead caught Chip’s concentration. “Dunbar, you son of a bitch.”

  The six-gun shooter and pistol fired at the same time. Smoke filled the tunnel, and when it cleared, both Deputy and Sheriff lay on the ground. Diamond knelt down and hugged Chip. “N-no, ploise.” When she lifted her gaze, a fat balding priest with a goulash face strolled up.

  Dunbar quivered, begging in a whisper. “This wasn’t what they told me. They told me I was doing all this for the one who knows his name.”

  The priest rotated in Dunbar’s direction, smiled with his rotting teeth, and said, “Hallelujar to the one who knows his name.”

  The sound of a stride made its way to the edge of where the light from Diamond’s fallen javelin reached, then something clanked against the stone floor. First long legs in velvet pants and a cane came into view, then a frilly white shirt, dimples, and tall top hat. “Yes, Fatha, I’m both the one who knows his name and the one who infiltated the faith of light entities, played the pat of their evangelist. Oh, I quite well know my name. My name is… Sam Hill, and I’m going to bugga this whole wild West. Fatha, what’s the saying about dak entities, the geatest tick they eva played—what was it?”

  “The greatest trick the dark entities ever played is making the world think they don’t exist.”

  “I must say, Fatha. I don’t buy that. Afta all, have you not been told extensively about my life’s commission. How I was a nothin’ nobody dak entity, born from the puritans’ sin of killing innocent people they pasumed to be witches. I could just as well be a lowly zombie, but I’ve amassed wealth, made fine connections and investments in the spaces of entities and humans, laid out a wondaful goal to conqua this West. I’m closa to achieving it than anyone but me may imagine. Why would I eva not want the wuld to know I exist. I expect to be gloafied! So, what’s the saying again?”

  “The greatest trick—”

  Sam Hill interrupted to answer his own question. “The dak entities eva played is simply misdi’ection. Hoodwinking sects into believing they a’e light entities. Those light entities will be so jealous of ma scheme, wish so badly they could think like me.

  I send she’iffs on hunts fa fool’s gold.” He laughed in excitement. “And this dedicated Dunba acted unda a fancy hoax that all his actions wua for light entities. That alone made him feel justified in shooting anotha bull of the law.”

  “You-you a lie,” Dunbar said.

  “Don’t tell me you didn’t know betta.” The cane clanked next to Dunbar’s head. A soft velvet gloved hand descended and entered through his bloody sternum. “If ya didn’t know betta, you wouldn’t have made that blood sacifice. Befoa leaving the village, you told the posse ya neglected to take ya pistol. That gave ya time to go back and shoot Gustavo. Ya did it to empowa me to save you. It was absolutely a wondaful choice for you to love yaself. Do tell me the details? I’ll make time to listen.”

  Dunbar rose to his feet, healed again by Sam Hill, but breathing too heavy to speak.

  Hill smiled to the sound of chanting from the dark robed entities nearing. “You a’e healthy again, Jed. You had to know killing Gustavo wasn’t out of mussy. You had figured out I had to be a dak one, and did it to bail yaself out. Ya will to live is endea’ing. In fact, I got plans fa ya, dea boy. Something special! How would you like to be the new she’iff of Grand Jose? The flying puma is waiting. If I was you, I’d make haste and take the ride back to Texas.”

  Dunbar rushed out, shoving through dark entities.

  Hill shook his head. “Fatha, you we’e supposed to have him take the javelin. That was yoa only inst’uction. You saw how effective it can be when cast, and only catain entities have become immune to these weapons to be handling them.”

  The Gaul priest shook his head.

  “Don’t beat yaself up. If Calamity can’t dispose of what's left of this posse with or without the javelin, she’s not the best choice to lead Mexico. I’ve had to get involved moa than I wanted to.”

  On the other side of the room, Diamond had remained hovering over the fallen Chip. “Don’t you dare close your eyes, Chip Blaze. You hear me? We have to fight this.”

  Sam Hill grinned. “Mussy me, she’s a fighta, but a fighta can only take so many blows.” He tapped his cane twice. “Shows ova, everyone. My schedule is chock full, and I cannot help but wonda how close Calamity Dya is to eitha the wust of losses oa the most excellent of wins.”