Scareship_Issue8

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted when they were
sprung upon out of the night by a mountain lion of bad temper and
even worse judgment. The big cat leapt upon Inky’s back from a
high perch, and tried to attach itself with its incisors into Inky’s
massive shoulders. But before it could, Gilly had pulled his Colt
and blasted that puss into eternity.
“You are pretty good with that black-eyed Susan,” noted Inky,
not put out overmuch by his brush with death.
“Yup. Gun play and poker are two of my three great gifts!” he
chuckled.
“Well then, with those particular talents, I have a sudden
notion as to where you might go.”
“Where might that be?”
“Head for Texas, Gilly.”
The next day, Inky led Gilly to a clearing, whereupon he
bellowed a howl up into the morning sky. Soon enough, a wild
horse came galloping into the break, and stopped in front of Inky,
nuzzling his shoulder. The creature was as big and black as a night
sky in Montana. “This here is my friend… I call him ‘Horse,’
though only he knows his own true name. Horse, this is Gilmore
Gammesson. He and I are brothers. He needs to be on his way, and
you are the only one that can help. So take care of him, and
yourself.”
Inky gave Gilly a bear’s tooth for good luck, pointed him
south, and wished him well. And so Gilly and Horse headed off,
but Gilly somehow knew he would see Inky Dugan again one day.
The Legend of Mad Gilly Games
Gilly and Horse arrived in Texas and cut a swath through the
killers, con men, cripples, confederates, cattlemen, card sharps and
courtesans that were the primary occupants of that territory in
those early decades after the War Between the States. Gilly tried
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