A log crackled
and spat in the hearth. Disintegrating in a shower of orange sparks as it
fell through the grating to the pile of ashes beneath. The old man stirred.
Waking from a jumble of dream images, chasing like phantoms through his mind.
It was nearly time now.
He reached inside his quilted dressing gown. Withdrawing the ancient Hunter.
Running a wizened thumb over the face of the watch, as he peered short-sightedly
at the numerals.
Ten minutes to midnight. Ten minutes left.
He smiled grimly. Re-pocketing the watch, as he sat up straighter in the
leather armchair. The fire needed tending. Dying in the half-light, and
stirring shadows on the walls. If he looked at them quickly, caught them
out of the corner of his eye, he could pretend they were people he'd
once
loved. Hovering like ghosts on the fringes of his dreams, as real to him
now, as they'd been when alive.
But they were gone. All gone. And he was left here alone.
It had happened in San Francisco. Back in the golden days of his youth. He
and his brother, entrusted on business for their father. Two young men let
loose in a city heaving and jostling with life and excitement. Teeming
and bursting with temptation and adventure.
How young they'd been. How arrogant.
He sighed heavily. Breath wheezing and catching in his withered lungs. Age
had been no friend to him. Nor life been - since that day . . .
They'd concluded their father's business. Wiring to let him know. Determined
to enjoy their last night in the vibrant city. Laughing at the warnings.
Young and immortal in attitude and spirit, as they'd swaggered down to the
Barbary Coast.
The Cowboy and the City Boy, neither inexperienced. One had survived a war,
the other had fought battles since his childhood. Confident they could
deal with any hand life dealt them, any card that turned. Just as long as
they had each other.
They moved through the bars. The brilliant bustle. A hot-blooded, lusty affirmation
of life, as they drank and gambled. Danced and flirted with the
painted whores.
He couldn't remember which of them had first suggested going into that damned
place. Down a twisting, cobbled back alley, running up from one of the piers.
Thronged with Chinamen and swinging lanterns. Dancing dragon's heads, and
the smell of joss. Almond-eyed girls in Cheongsam watching them obliquely
as they lurched through the throng.
She was waiting by the doorway. Exotic, and beautiful as a sprig of cherry-blossom.
A shining sheet of straight black hair, half veiling her
face like a curtain. His brother was immediately smitten. Dragging him by
the elbow as they entered the gambling den. Redolent with haze of opium.
Air so thick, he could barely see a foot in front of his face.
He'd felt something then. A sense of fear or apprehension. A brooding menace,
dancing round the edges of the night like a hungry demon. Wanting to go.
Knowing in his heart, there was trouble there, as he looked uneasily round
the smoky saloon at the sea of absorbed faces.
It was uncannily quiet compared to all the other places they'd been. No groups
of rowdy, drunken louts. No sprawling bar brawls or honky-tonks. Just a remorseless
clink-clink at the tables, a low drone of voices in the background. He watched
the strange, melancholy faces of the gamblers, as they gazed intently at
the boards. His brother laughing in the corner with the girl, lashes
like fans on her cheeks.
His head was swimming. The potent fog of the drug beginning to affect him,
as he fought to stay alert.
To this day, he couldn't swear how it began. The tightening air of menace,
as he realised they were the only non-Orientals in the place. The hostile
glances directed at his brother, as he draped an arm around the girl. Fighting
through the crowd to his side, walls heaving, head pounding, as he
tried to steer him out towards the door . . .
The girl twisted, pulled away. A man in front of him, blocking his view.
Steel flashing in the semi-darkness, his brother's name on his lips
. . .
Kneeling on the sawdust floor. Blood on his clothes, on his hands, as he
tried to plug the wound and stop the bleeding. Begging his brother to hold
on, watching the glaze in his eyes. Knowing it was futile, as his brother's
life spilled inexorably away. Soaking into the sawdust all around. Rocking
him mutely against his chest, as he wept into the soft hair, beseeched the
blue eyes not to close. Oblivious to the silence. The air of brooding jeopardy
still about him.
The hand on his shoulder was cold and claw like. Skin the colour of faded
parchment, fingers narrow with elongated nails. They clutched his shoulder
convulsively, digging in so hard, it hurt.
He still remembered the douche of shock. The clenching of fear as he stared
into those fathomless eyes. Eyes hard as agate, black as obsidian, in a face
more ancient than he'd ever known. Eyes that had looked upon death before,
that knew of it's mysteries.
"Mister Lancer . . ." The voice was soft and accented. Like the rustle of
dead autumn leaves. He wondered fearfully, how the man knew his name.
"Do you wish to save your brother's life?"
"My brother's dead." The words were choked.
Silence and a soft chuckle. "Maybe, maybe not. Things are not always as they
seem. How much would you be prepared to gamble?"
He 'd looked up dazedly at the tables. "My brother's dead, and you want me
to gamble?"
The ancient face grew still. "Gambling is a way of life for us, Mister Lancer.
It can also be a way of death. A sense of balance, a game of
chance."
His grip loosened, and he beckoned towards an empty table. "What would you
stake for your brother's life?"
He'd risen unsteadily. Shaking his head in disbelief. Compelled to follow
the Old Man to the table, to leave his brother's body on the floor. The air
of menace had vanished along with the girl. But the fog was thicker, and
somehow, the place had cleared of other gamblers.
"Anything . . ." He'd answered. "Anything at all."
The Old Man smiled gently. Nodding sagaciously, as he reached for a pot of
sticks. "Yarrow stalks, Mister Lancer. One is shorter than the others. There
are four in the pot, so the odds are in your favour."
"What must I do?"
"It is very simple. If you draw one of the long sticks, I give you your brother's
life, and your own."
"And if I draw the short stick?"
The Chinaman bowed regretfully, watching with still, black eyes. "Then you
lose the game."
He remembered the sense of swirling sub reality. The fantastic air of disbelief
and grief in his heart, in his soul. A detached part of him
wondering why he was even playing along with this freakish, grotesque charade.
Putting out his hand and reaching for the Yarrow stalks . . .
"Wait."
The Chinaman pulled them away. "There is first, the matter of a stake."
"Take all my money . . ."
That dry, rustling laugh again. "I don't want your money."
"Then what?"
The Old Man pushed a piece of paper across the table-top towards him. There
was a single letter written on it in red ink. The letter 'S'.
"I am a collector, Mister Lancer. A collector of souls."
An aeon of silence. He had the sense of tumbling headlong into a black chasm.
The air thick with danger, dark forces at work. There was a murmuring and
whispering noise in the back of his skull, like a million humming bees. Nearer
and nearer they came, the drone growing louder.
He stared into the ancient face again. Black eyes pulling him to the edge
of the abyss. A deep swirl of evil, as he sank into darkness.
**** ****
**** **** ****
**** **** ****
The fire was dying
now. The room took on a gloomy, cavernous aspect , as the shadows reclaimed
the corners, and took on a life of their own.
It was all so long ago.
He'd paid the price, and staked his soul. Vaguely aware of drawing a long
stalk from the pot, as the dim saloon had shimmered and faded before his
eyes.
He'd woken in a San Francisco hospital. According to the Law Enforcement
Officer who spoke to him, they'd been attacked on the Barbary coast. Nearly
Shanghaied. Saved but for the grace of God. His brother was badly hurt, a
knife wound in his gut. And after he recovered, he had no memory of the either
the Chinese girl, or the gambling den.
When they gave him back his clothes, he felt a rustle of paper in the breast
pocket. Taking it out with a cold sense of inevitability and fear. It was
the stake he'd pledged to the Chinaman. A single letter 'S'. Ever since that
day, the black eyes had mocked him. Haunting his dreams, and stalking his
waking hours.
He was still waiting to pay his stake. Time taunting him with a long, unhappy
life. Watching those he loved die before him. Some before their own,
fair share of time. He took a last look at the Hunter. A minute to midnight
now. Closing his eyes, and settling back in the armchair as he waited
for his nemesis. The piece of paper that had come in the mail this morning,
ignored on the table beside him.
A sheet of yellowed parchment, inscribed with a single letter. Death's letter
'S' . . .
THE END
Lisa Paris 2003.