Chapter 8

Five Years Ago

Boston, Massachusetts

It was midday when the women with the duster, cowboy hat and pair of mean looking irons arrived in Boston.  The women brought her horse to a slow trod just as she arrived at the city entrance.  After which she dismounted her horse to look for a nearby stable.  “Hard to find a decent place around this time” she said as she looked around to see the large groups of people that were moving around.  “Can’t say I blame you” a balding man with a handlebar mustache and dressed in a barbers outfit said standing next to her.  “Fourth of July is bitch ain’t it?” she replied back.

The man nodded “If you’re looking for a stable and a place to crash, you aren’t going to find much left being that the Fourth of July is a day away.  If you want I have place you can put your horse, but unfortunately I don’t have a room that I can offer you and I can’t cook worth jack.  The woman dug into her pouch and pulled out five gold coins, the man’s eye’s widened with surprise.  “Five gold pieces, two for the horse, the other two is for the stay. I don’t have problem with finding a room, I can sleep in the stable.  As for food, I’m certain I can find a good eating place around here and when I can’t I got some beans, bacon and coffee with me at all times.  I’ll give you the fifth piece of gold under the condition you don’t tell anyone that I’m here, where I’m going, who I am and that you never heard of me.”

“Certainly” he said as she flipped the fifth coin into his hand to catch it.  The women grabbed the reins of her horse and followed the man to his place.  Just as she thought, it was a barbershop and there was a small stable house adjacent to the building, which was empty.  ‘Haven’t used the place much since my kids moved out to New York” the man said starting a conversation.  “It yours for as long as you’re staying here” he then stated.  The women nodded “I’ll be out of your hair after the fourth, until then you remember our agreement?” the man nodded. As she went into the stable the man followed her in there.  “By the way, if I’m going to not tell people of who you are, my I trouble you for your name so that I know who their talking about?”

The women looked back at him and smiled.  “Why it’s Sheila Horton.”  The man’s mouth looked like it was going to drop to the floor.  “Sheila Horton? You mean as in “Lady Deadeye” Sheila Horton?”  She nodded “I and no other.”  “Knowing that a famous bounty huntress like you is here in Boston, I guarantee you that I won’t tell anyone, even with the gold piece you gave me” he said smiling.  “You can keep the money I gave you, I’ll always find more.”

After the barber left she set her things aside and made a place for her to sleep.  After the long train ride from San Francisco to New York, she needed to relax a bit.  She then lied down; keeping her irons closed to her side and then put her hat over her face and drifted off soundly to sleep.

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She awoke five and half hours later, just as night was coming to the sounds of something crashing next door.  She immediately got up, strapping her irons to her sides and quietly moved to the stable door with one of the guns drawn.  She peered out the side to see three men with torches, standing outside the barber shop.  Another man came out of the barber shop, with blood all over him.

“That old fool was too stubborn to talk.  Says the bitch isn’t here and that she never was.  On the bright side, after I killed the bastard, I found some gold pieces” he said.  Sheila obviously knew they we’re looking for her and it cost the life of an innocent man.  One of the men stepped forward and looked at the gold pieces that were being shown.  “Well she definitely was here, I recognize those gold pieces.  Saw her spending it back in San Fran like some whore, not that I would be surprised if she would be a whore” the man cackled

“Whether she was here or not, we now know for a fact that she’s here in Boston.  I’ll go and tell the boss of the situation meanwhile you three dogs stay here and torch the place.”  With that being said, the bloody clothed man mounted a horse and galloped down the street tell he could be heard no more.  The two men were about to throw their torches, when Sheila sprung out with her other gun drawn and shot the men in the chest.

Strangely they only seemed to fall down, but not dead by the shots, but it didn’t change the fact that they now noticed her.  “It’s that she devil bitch, let’s get her” one of the men hollered as he picked himself up.  She unloaded her irons into the charging man, but it didn’t seem like it was have any effect.  That’s when she dropped her irons, pulled out a knife and assumed a fighting stance.  The charging man approached her and pulled out a knife of his own.  Just as he mad a thrusting movement at her, she stepped to one side and stabbed him.

But the knife did not make contact with the man’s chest.  “What are these men made of to resist a stab to the gullet?” She said questionably as the man toppled over her.  He had hand his left hand on her throat trying to choke her and the other bringing the knife up ready to stab her to death.  “Now you die bitch” he said smiling sadistically.  That’s when she put all her might into a desperate thrust with her left knee that struck him in the groin.

The man’s eyes lit up like the fourth of July, as he dropped the knife to topple over and grab his neither region in pain.  She picked up her hat just as she was standing up.  “You men never to protect your fellows now do you” she said.  With that being said she noticed that the two other men were finally picking themselves up.  She reached for a pair of throwing knives that she kept strapped to her thighs and threw them at the heads of the two individuals, making them drop dead before they could fire their strange looking weapons.

With those two dead, she grabbed her fallen irons and then she decided to drag the man to the stable to try and beat a confession out of him.  She tied him to a post; she then ripped open the man’s shirt.  She could she why her knife didn’t go into the man’s chest, it’s because he was wearing an iron plate.  “Strangest thing I’d ever seen here on this side of the Mississippi River” she thought to herself as the man regained conscious.  “Why did you boys go and have to kill that man?  He meant you no harm.”  “He was protecting you, you she-bitch” he spat.  With that she punched the man in the face and he coughed up blood and broken teeth.  “You wanna lose more teeth?  Then tell me where that Carlyle fellow is” she demanded in a firm tone of voice.

“What’s it to you whore?” he said as she grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.  “Okay, okay” he said as he squirmed “He’s in South Boston, where all those damned Irishmen live, just near Flannigan’s pub.  That’s all I know I swear.”  With that being said, she undid the reins on her horse and began to walk out of the stable, leaving the asshole behind.  She’d go find the local police station and then take off after Carlyle.  Just as she approached the dead men to retrieve her knives, she looked up at the barbershop.  “Old man, whoever you were, thank you” she said to herself as she mounted her horse and made for the Irish part of town.

Just as Sheila left, a strange individual dressed in a black cloak looked around the corner.  This individual had been following Sheila Horton since the bounty huntress left from the Saint Louis Rail Station.  “No doubt in my mind, she’s after the same the person me and my superiors want to bring in for questioning.”  Putting that thought out of the individuals mind, the person disappeared into the shadows to follow the bounty huntress.

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“So that’s the story” Sheila finished explaining to the police captain.  “It don’t surprise me one bit that you’re looking for Carlyle” the police captain said with a strong Irish accent.  The man had the look of someone that worked too hard and needed to lie down.  The captain was wearing a dress coat with vest and bow tie along with a bowler hat.  “Even the limey government has had it out for him.  Attempting to be disguised as one of the royal guards in an attempt to kill off the entire royal family and the queen herself does that sort of thing I guess” he said apathetically.

But he has done things that are far more questionable than that? Hasn’t he?” she asked.  The captain opened up a draw on the corner of his desk to pull out his Smith and Wesson revolver, impressive piece, Sheila thought to herself as he put it into his holster.  He also opened up another draw to pull out some pipe tobacco for his pipe that he also pulled out.  “Yes you are quite right.  I don’t know much about what he did outside the colonies, by which I mean America, but I know enough about what he did do here, to make him a dangerous man.

“His first offense that he committed here was selling American and British made firearms to the Mexicans during the Mexican-American war.  His second offense was impersonating a U.S. Marshall, which he killed earlier, when the governor of New Mexico needed a prisoner escorted to the nearby fort.  The third offense was blowing up a bridge that the St. Louis/Phoenix line had trains coming and going through.  Many people, including civilians and soldiers lost there lives from that incident.”

“Pretty much too sum it up, he’s a terrible man with many more offenses I could tell you of, but we really don’t have the time for.”  Sheila nodded.  “Alright, I and the boys here will provide you with the back up you need, just give us a signal when you want us to move in and take the place.  Since we know that a legend like you can handle yourself, you can take Carlyle himself; just leave his goons to us alright dear?” “No problem, as long as the payment for my bounty will be in fulfilled upon my taking him down.”  The captain nodded with a smile “Anything for you mum, now what signal can me and the boys expect to wait for?”

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The Irish district was rowdy at this time of night, but that was what Sheila had hoped for.  She still had to maintain the element of surprise on Carlyle, the rowdiness of drunken revelry only made things easier for her.  She tied up her horse in a nearby stable and then paid the stable master.  When she stepped out, she looked down the way she had come from and gave a tip of her hat.  That was the signal to the captain that she was on the move.

She walked casually, trying not to call any unnecessary attention to herself.  She checked every now and then to see if anyone was following her or if anyone was doing something out of the ordinary. “Just a bunch of drunken revelry and merriment, wish I could enjoy this too.  I’ll have to oblige these good folk, but only after the job” She said this to herself.  Even though see checked again to make sure no-one was following her, she still had the strangest feeling that she was being followed.  She had that feeling ever since she got off the train in New York that came from Saint Louis.

“I’ve been having this strange feeling that someone’s been following me.”  She didn’t know if it was Carlyle’s men, someone who held a grudge against her (Even though she knew most of the people who wanted her dead where either in prison or dead) or even law enforcement.  The captain had made sure that officers near the Irish part of town, we’re made aware of the raid that was going to happen near Flannigan’s Pub, so it couldn’t be the police, they were under strict orders not to move in.

“Can’t worry about that now, I got a scumbag to nail and bounty to collect.”  She arrived at Flannigan’s Pub just as she removed her hat and left glove to run her fingers through her hair.  That was the signal that she was going in and to be ready for the final signal.  After entering the pub, she removed the glove on her right hand, put it in her hat with her other glove and flicked her long braided hair across her left shoulder just as she sat down.

Few people noticed her, while the others were having a bit of merriment with dancing and singing an Irish jig.  The bartender came up to her “What it be lassie?” he said cheerfully.  “Whiskey, the good stuff” she said plainly.  The bartender brought a shot glass and a bottle, after filling it; she took it down in one gulp.  “Aye lassie, you sure can handle the beast a bit can you?”  “More than you can possibly image” she said plainly.

The bartender looked around cautiously and then when he was through, he gave a twitch of his finger to indicate that he wanted to talk to her.  “I know why your here Sheila Horton” he said in a whisper and she froze.  She thought about reaching for her irons, but then the bartender shook his head.  “I know you want that bastard son of a whore dead, he killed one of the local whores around here after she asked for payment or so what I’ve heard.  I won’t try to stop you from dragging his worthless carcass out of here, but you can’t meet him dressed like that.  I have an idea.”

After stepping into the back room, she stripped naked and began dressing in the clothes that the bartender gave her.  The dress was a two piece, one for her top leaving her belly exposed and the other a type of skirt.  They were a grimy colored green with white laces and tassels.  She strapped her guns to her naked thighs, before putting on a make-shift cloth to cover her lower feminine part.  After undoing her hair and letting it fall past her shoulders, she then looked into a mirror that was setup in the backroom.

“Sweet God, if my daddy saw me dressed like this, he would throw a fit” she said to herself.  Upon looking in the mirror, she looked more like a whore than the bounty huntress that she was.  The skirt that she wore fell to her knees, which made her feel better, but the top she wore didn’t leave much to the imagination.  It covered her shoulders, elbows and the upper half of her back, but the front part of the dress top didn’t seem to do a good enough job of covering up her breasts.  “I might as well just go in there topless, that’ll probably let me in much faster, but I still ain’t no whore, well a job’s a job”  she said to herself.

As she left the back room, she began walking in a seductive manner and several people had noticed her, even whistled.  Just as she wanted to walk back to the bar and exchange some words with the bartender about the dress, she felt a hard impact on her buttocks.  She turned around to try and the slap the person, but before her hand could make contact with the man’s face, he caught her.

“Feisty one aren’t you lassie?” the man said with a grin.  He had a nose that looked like it had been broken more times than ever, several scars on his face and rotten looking teeth.  “If you’re looking for a good time” the man sneered “there’s a man who’s looking for some action.”  Instead of getting angry at him and refusing she smiled instead.  “What is your friend willing to pay?” she said in a very terrible attempt to sound Irish.

“Your Irish is crap lassie, but you are still a whore and willing to take a good payment.  How does ten dollars sound?” the man smiled cruelly.  Sheila smiled “why, of course it does.”  The man kept his same cruel smile “Excellent, now come with me you harlot” he said to her as she was being yanked out the door.  As she was being dragged down the streets to the harbor, she had hoped that the police were watching.  She would need the help, on account of the fact that she knew the man who was dragging her.

It was the same man who had killed the barbershop owner that night.

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After being brought down several blocks of dark houses, she was brought by the nasty looking scoundrel to a factory like building.  They approached a door with her in tow and he knocked several times.  An eye hole opened.  “You bring another whore to your bed O’Hara?  You know the chief don’t like that” the voice on the other side of the door said in annoyed tone of voice.  “So that’s the bastard who killed the barber and is now dragging me halfway across town” Sheila said to herself.

“This harlot ain’t for me you stupid arsehole.  It’s for the boss, and tell that crazy foreigner if he beds her down before the boss, I’ll set his arse on fire” O’Hara sneered.  “Who’s this crazy foreigner he mentions? What the hell is going on here?”  Just as these thoughts were racing through her head, O’Hara slapped her hard across the face.  “You damned Jezebel, it ain’t no time for daydreaming, the boss wants your thighs open and so he can have his fun or whatever he does to whores like you.”  He grabbed her by her right arm hard and as soon as she got in, she’d figure she had enough.

She began pulling on O’Hara’s arm and when he tried to turn and slap her, she pivoted on her left foot and threw a nasty left hook into the right side of his face, which knocked out a few of his teeth and sent him spinning to the ground.  The other guard was briefly caught off guard by these strange events, that before he could lift his strange weapon, a shadow attacked him from behind with a sharp object sticking out of his chest.  Sheila reached for her irons that we’re strapped to her thighs in time that the shadow was upon her.  It didn’t seem like it was going to attack her.

“Just who the hell are you?” she said to the figure.  The shadowy figure removed his cloak to reveal a handsome young man, with well-trimmed blond hair and bright eyes.  He was dressed in an outfit that looked odd.  “You needn’t feel threatened by me, I am what you call in your country, a friend” he said in a foreign accent.  Sheila didn’t seem convinced “maybe if you explain yourself, I won’t shoot you my so-called friend” she said tightening her grip on the trigger.  Before she could expect an answer, he reached for something, before she could even get off the shot he ducked out the way to throw something.  She turned around to see falling men fire off a trio of shots from strange weapons.  That’s when she heard shouting.

She looked back to see that the man was still there.  “There isn’t much time, so I’ll explain: The man you seek known as Carlyle is working for some very evil people.  I work for some people who want to stop him and if we don’t hurry he’ll get away.  There’s no telling what he’ll do next if he gets away.”  Sheila nodded “I have to inform the police” she said.  The young man shook his left hand “There’s no need for that; I told them that Sheila Horton was in trouble and to follow me.  There already coming, but we need to catch Carlyle, as soon as possible.

She smiled “I’m much obliged to you fellow.  Seeing as you know my name, might I trouble you for yours?” she said as she was following the man up a set of stairs.  “For now you will call me Kurt”

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The man known as Carlyle was gathering up his things when he heard shouting.  One of the men jogged over to him.  “Intruders, we have intruders” the man said between gasps of air.  “I can tell that you idiot, but by whom.  The man regained his breathing “Some red haired woman dressed like a whore and a strangely dressed blond haired boy” he said.  Carlyle remained poker faced.

“Sheila Horton, Kurt Holden” he said coldly.  He tightened his grip on his cane which he held in his right hand.  “Alright, gather up the men and try to eliminate them.”  The man who brought him the message nodded and went to gather some more men.  The man called Carlyle turned to a dark corner of the office.  “Ivan, go do what you do best” he said as he began to leave.  The figure in the corner gave an evil smile as a small flame danced across his face.

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“These men are unstoppable” Sheila said as she punched a black clad-man in the face and shoved him over the edge of the railing.  “Not unstoppable, just armored, which makes them harder to kill” Kurt said as he sliced and shot his way through.  The weapons he carried were his trusty ninjato and the standard issue Wulfkorp sidearm, which could be switched between single and triple shot.  Sheila still managed to have her pair of trusty revolvers and the knives she still had strapped to her thighs. They had just left the main entrance of the factory and headed up a flight of stairs, which lead led up to a metal walkway that looked down over the factory floor.

She knew she needed ammo, on account of the fact that she was running low; they found a door at the end of the walkway.  “This leads to the steel mill where the metals for weapons are produced.  She followed him down a hallway with offices on the left side of the building.  Kurt put up his hand to indicate Sheila to stop following him.  “You’ll not want to fight dressed like this” he said plainly as he was looking at Sheila as if she was a piece of meat.  “I managed to procure your things from the tavern keeper after you were hauled out.  There in the office at the end of this hallway.”

“You brought me my stuff?” she said in both shock and anger “We’re you watching me undress you pervert?”  Kurt shook his head “A ninja such as myself is taught to not let such things distract you” he said plainly.  Sheila nodded her head “Well that’s mighty nice of you.  You go after Carlyle and I’ll hang back here so I can change and get reinforced” she then headed towards the office that Kurt indicated. 

 “Hope you don’t kill him, I need that bounty” she shouted.  “Don’t worry, if I do, my people will have you compensated” he shouted back as he cut apart two men that almost rushed him with their bayonets on there weapons. With that being said, Sheila entered the office, not knowing that someone had been following Sheila.

The room Sheila had entered wasn’t an office, but it was actually a workspace for sorting and sizing small metals, not that she cared to know, but at least she was able to get out of these damn clothes that made her look like a whore.  “I already look like a siren, distracting men and calling them to their deaths by looking like a whore, of course then again it’s nice to know that how I dress does distract them into thinking that I am easy prey. ” she said smiling to herself.  She promised herself that she would never let a man try to take advantage again. Her father was the only real man that ever treated her like a person and not some ordinary woman.

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Being the only child she was raised like a man by her father, until she was seventeen.  He still wanted to be a grandfather one day, but he would let her choose her own mate.  Even after he died fighting the Union troops at Gettysburg, she still promised him that she would one day find a husband. Many a man wanted her, but she refused them either because they didn’t want a woman to be independent or that they felt she was too much of a firecracker.

It didn’t stop the son of a rich landowner from imposing his will on her.  Even though she said no on account of the fact he was also a spoiled brat, he still wasn’t convinced.  He went as far as killing the slaves who helped her run the farm, burning down her home, taking the cattle and trying to force him on her.  But she still didn’t give in; she was beaten within inches of her life and left her to die in the barn that the brat soon fired and saying “If I can’t have you, no-one will” he shouted cruelly.

She would have died that day, if it hadn’t been for one surviving slave.  It was Zachariah, the chief slave who risked his life to pull her out of the fire.  She had awoken in a hospital and was told she was in some town just outside of St. Louis.  She was also told that she had been unconscious for a week and that the slave who brought her in was held for questioning.  She told the Union officers who were there everything.

Even though this was the North and she was from the South, she wasn’t suspected of helping the Confederates and was therefore able to leave whenever the doctor permitted it.  Zachariah was also released, mainly because the North abolished slavery, but also because he had nothing to do with her attempted rape and murder.  Even so, he still remained by her side to make sure she got better.  He told her that her father ordered him to watch over her while she was away, even though he knew that she was capable of handling things on her own.

Then the doctors gave her a clean bill of health, she decided it was time to leave.  When Zachariah wanted to follow her, she told him not to.  Because not only did he save her life and make sure she would be okay, but also because she always thought of Zachariah as the big brother she never had.  That’s why she dismissed him and told him to find his own path in life, even though it was the North and she couldn’t have him as a slave anyway, she still believed he deserved to live a free man.

As for herself, she went back to Texas to find her old farmhouse, or what was left of it, to gather what wasn’t burned.  She not only found cooking utensils for traveling, but also the Colt Dragoons her father gave her when she turned sixteen.  After finding a leather holster to put them in she rode off into the sunset.  From that day on, she committed herself to being a bounty huntress.  Unchained by no man and no home, she swore that she who hunt down the kind of scum that scarred the lives of good people. 

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By the time she completed her flashback she had taken off the last of the ratty clothes she had been wearing, she was completely nude.  Just as she was reaching into the sack for her undergarments, the door she came in from exploded in a ball of fire.  Even though she was completely naked, she didn’t want to waste time try to get into her clothes and be made a target at the same time.

“Not the first time I had to fight like this” she said to herself as she grabbed her irons, knocked over a table and kneeled behind with her guns drawn.  Heavy footsteps came from out the hallway and she was ready for the worse.  What she saw was not what she expected.  It was a man dressed in some kind of iron suit with a strange device strapped to his back, which was attached to a set of hoses that ended on both his wrists with little flames coming out both of them.  His face looked like that of man who loved being around fire.

“This can’t be good” she cringed just looking at him.  The man in the suit shifted in her direction and smiled.  “The bounty huntress Sheila Horton” he said maintaining a sadistic smile as she stood up not caring about the fact she had nothing on.  “I never thought I’d meet you like this, I guess instead of burning you alive, I’ll just have some fun with you first” he said gazing at her large round breasts, slim waist and smoothly looking thighs.  Just looking at her made him lick his lips.

“Well take a good look at this heavenly body, because it’s the last thing a stupid shit will ever see in this life” she said as she fired her guns, but after two shots, they clicked empty.  “Hell of a time to forget to reload” she cursed.  Just as she reached for her knives at her thighs, the pyromaniac was upon just as she pulled them out.  She was knocked against the wall hard and then she was lifted up by the man’s strong right grip.

She struggled against the man’s grip, but he still maintained his grip.  “Time to get the fun started” the man cackled.  For the first time in five years she was afraid.  Afraid of being beaten, raped and maybe even killed, for it was as if that day five years ago was being replayed.  But this time, she may never live through if she didn’t do anything

Just as the man was trying to undo his iron pants, she pressed her legs against the wall and put all her might into her legs and pushed forward.  The momentum knocked the psycho over on his back with surprise and she flipped over him and landed on her feet.  She managed to pull something off his belt.  It was belt with round shaped objects that contained some kind of liquid.  She didn’t know what it was, but she figured it could be used against him.

“You stupid bitch!!!!” he said as he was getting up in a daze “I was going to give you a fast painless death after I finished having my fun with you, but you forfeited that.  Now you die!!!!” he screamed as he shot his arms forward as flames came at her.  She managed to duck out of the way in time, so the fire hit the wall instead of her and lit the place up.

She remained crouched and on the move as the pyro-nut continued to curse and shoot off flames.  She was able to remain silent enough to finally sneak around the workbenches and reach the table that the sack containing her clothes was on.  Just as she grabbed the sack, she then decided to see what was in the containers.  She popped open one of the bottles and took a whiff, it smiled repulsive but familiar.

“It smells like something flammable, perhaps I can use it to my advantage” she thought to herself.  She then took out three of her thigh knives from the sack and coated one of them in the strange smelling liquid.  She needed to set them on fire.  She peeked over one of the work benches to see that the psycho was still looking for.  She flung the uncoated knife her left hand just past his face and then he turned to her direction, spewing fire and death towards her.

It was just what she needed.  She slowly put the edge of the other knife towards the fire and it lit up brightly.  With the knife on fire, she thought she could do some double damage to this nut job.  She continued to move in a crouching position, along with the sack that Kurt left her, to a position in the far corner.  She looked out the dirty windows nearby to see the harbor outside.

“I am getting fucking sick and tired of the bastard.  I am just going to have to make a break for it; after all, that Kurt fellow said his people would compensate me for this.  So after I dispatch this bastard, I'll jump into the harbor” she planned that in her head.  She took the flaming knife in her right and stood up, facing the pyromaniac’s back.

“Hey dirtbag” she shouted.  Just as the man turned towards her, she threw the flaming knife into the left side of his face.  The man howled in pain and was shooting flames everywhere in a violent frenzy, setting the place around them on fire.  That was her cue to leave.

Sheila then took her boots out of the sack and smashed out the windows; clearing away any broken glass and then she put then back in the sack. She then took a few steps back and dashed towards the window.  She dived out the window, landing in the harbor water just as the room she leapt from exploded.  As she resurfaced, she saw that the entire factory was on fire.

“Well, there goes my bounty, I hope that Kurt fellow caught that bastard Carlyle” she said to herself as she was swimming to the shoreline.  When she arrived, she immediately started drying herself off with her bandanna that she always carried with her.  She then began to put her jeans and cut-off shirt back on, which she was finally thankful to be back in her original clothing, when she came to the sudden realization that she forgot something.

“Shit, I left my irons back in that shithole” she cursed herself as she was ringing out the water from her hair.  “You mean these” a familiar voice said to her.  She turned around to see that it was Kurt again.  “You have a very bad habit of not respecting someone’s privacy” she sighed.  Kurt shrugged “That may be, but at least I arrived after you cursed.”  She sighed once more.

“I guess it’s because this is the one time that a bounty escaped me” she said with a look of disappointment.  “I promised myself I would never let those who are rotten to the core get away with it” she continued with a look of disappointment.  Kurt came up to her “You would have died trying to capture him; you wouldn’t want that either now would you?” Kurt said.  Sheila sighed once more “I guess your right.”  Kurt smiled “That’s the spirit, now I believe these are yours” she looked to see that he was holding her irons.  They were still hot in her hands, but the worst part was that when she tried they triggers, they wouldn’t click.

“Even the best gunsmith in town wouldn’t be able to fix them” Kurt mentioned.  “However the people I work for would be able to fix them, and with talent like yours they may even want to recruit as well, as compensate you” he said with a positive sounding tone in his voice.  Sheila looked up at him with a smile just as she finished brushing her hair and putting her cowboy hat back on.

“I’ll join you in working with your people, but on one condition” she stated.  “What condition would that be” Kurt stated plainly.  “Just tell me what the hell is going on here?”

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“After the events of that night, Kurt told me everything.  About the Wulfkorp, why they were involved with that night’s events, even the construction and research on advanced technology and science, which the world would never see for years” she stated to Bruckner plainly.  He had been paying so much attention to what she was saying that he didn’t realize that he had been led to the officer’s quarters.  “They also told me that the pyro-nut that I faced was called Mad Ivan, and that Carlyle’s real name was Fallion; an albino colored man that used to work for the British government, but then decided to go into business for not only himself, but for folk who aren’t that friendly and find profit in death and misery.

“This here is my room” she said gesturing him to open it for her.  Bruckner opened the door for her and she went in taking her hat off.  When he entered the room, he didn’t expect it to be so Spartan looking, but then again Sheila was a bounty huntress and she did say she never stayed very long.  The only things in the room were a bed for two next to a set of windows on the left, a chest of drawers for clothes, a bathtub with sink and wash basin with a mirror attached to it.  Apart from the coat stand in the room, where she would have hung up her hat and coat, the bottles of booze on the night stand and Sheila’s personal effects, it pretty much looked like your basic ordinary room.

Just after that she took off her duster and cowboy hat and set them on the rack.  Her shirt was both sleeveless and cut-off that showed off her belly and her jeans ended at her knees and had a few holes in them, but nonetheless she was still stunning to Bruckner’s eyes

She then undid the holster around her hips, along with the bandolier with the sawed off shotgun strapped to her back, then set them down on a chair in the corner.  “The moment I joined the Wulfkorp they fixed my irons right up, making them more powerful and more accurate than they had been before, of course that was the only thing they gave me, they also let me get my hands on some other weapons, like that rifle I used back in Greydorf and the sawed off you saw strapped to my back” she said as she undid her hair, letting it fall past her shoulders.  She then noticed Bruckner was staring at her.

 “Before you start drooling all over me” she said blushing “you want a shot of whiskey hon?” she said smiling.  “Sure thing” he said as he tried to hide the embarrassment.  She took two glasses and filled them almost to the top; she then walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed, they clicked the glasses together.  “You wanted to see how I could handle my alcohol intake?” she said with a smile “Here’s your chance to see for yourself.”

They both drank up at the same time, Bruckner did even blink.  “Man oh man” Sheila said surprisingly “you are quite the man.”  “That’s the first time a women’s said that to me, but tell me this” he said gesturing his glass to indicate he wanted more, Sheila smiled and got him some more “if you had refused to let yourself be with any man, why are you getting so hot and heavy for me?” he asked.

“Because” she said turning around and walking back to the bed in a seductive motion “I promised myself that I would never be satisfied with a man who wanted me just to get into my pants or wanted me to be some housewife that stayed home to raise the kids and cook meals or” she said smiling as she put down her glass of whiskey on the floor and then began leaning into Bruckner, putting her arms around his shoulders and letting her sit on his lap.

“Or maybe it’s because you didn’t want to be with a man who was not in the least bit similar to you” Bruckner said grinning “I’m that kind the man, aren’t I?” “What did you think?” she said softly as she leaned into kiss him on the lips.

He started kissing her back, just as he was sliding his right hand up her shirt and began massaging her left breast.  She then took her top off to reveal large round breasts and pink nipples, which were barely touched by her magnificent ruby-red hair.  She then helped Bruckner take his top, which revealed a massively built chest complete with scars.  “Oh my” Sheila said softly as she leaned in wrapping her arms Bruckner’s neck to, pressing her breasts up against his chest as she was kissing him

He then laid her out on her the; taking off her boots and helping her take her pants off, leaving her fully nude. Her slim waist line and silky smooth thighs made Bruckner more than eager to fulfill her desires as much as his.  With that thought he mind, he dropped his pants and began to lie on top of her.

“Oh god yes” she moaned as he began to make love to her.  He stopped to lean in and kiss her every now and then, as he gave it to her harder and harder, making her even sweatier than before.  For the next hour and a half, Iron Man Bruckner and the Femme Fatale known as Lady Deadeye were in the throes of passion and love making.

******************************************************************

“When the others show up, I make sure they are brought up to date, Herr Schroeder, but for now there is someone I’d like you to meet” General von Krieger said plainly.  After the argument that General von Krieger broke up earlier between Bruckner, Sheila and Ulrich, he along with a pair of Wulfkorp troopers began giving Schroeder and the Prussian soldiers a tour of the place.

“This particular room is where we conduct electrical engineering, not only to weaponize electricity, but also how to improve it’s use for humanity’s needs” the general said as he pointed to a giant room surrounded by a chain link fence.  A lightning bolt went through one end of the room and then another.  “On a more serious note I must remind you is that unless you wish to become deep fried chicken, you will not enter that room with proper safety gear” he said as he was pointing to two engineers that were putting on their rubber safety suits.

Schroeder and the other soldiers were shown other such areas.  He had no idea that such marvels could be accomplished by man.  Some of the areas included a isolation room used for studying chemical and biological agents, which he knew nothing of, the explosives room that Harbin told everyone about earlier, he and the soldiers were shown the various none-lethal experiments that were being conducted around the main area, which ranged from drugs that can could be used to combat hypnotism and something called vampirism, to more technological innovations like the steam powered mini-gun that Ulrich used earlier or a steam powered crossbow that the general explained was Helga’s idea.

That had been walking down a hallway that was well lit by the mid-afternoon sun coming through a series of stain glass windows on both sides.  “These stain glass windows date back to the founding of the Wulfcastle family in the ninth century A.D., the people you see depicted here are the men and women of the Wulfcastle family who have made their contributions to science and humanity for generations” the general said with a sense of pride.  “The one you passed by on the entrance was Ludwig von Wulfcastle the first.  He fought alongside the armies of Charlemagne and was given this piece of land as a reward for his services.”

They entered a garden like area with strange and exotic plants along with a fountain with a statue of Martin Luther, the founder of the reformation movement.  Researchers and scholars of various sorts were gathered around either taking a break or relaxing with or without their research materials.  “As you can see, the Wulfcastle families are also academics” he said gesturing to the statue of Martin Luther.  “When Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses, Ludwig the fourth of the Wulfcastle family, immediately supported his reforms along with the other Germanic nobles and now that I mention it, if any of you are deeply religious, there’s a chapel just down the left hallway and to the next left.  The stain glass windows are just as beautiful there as it is here” he waved his hand around.

Schroeder and the soldiers were enjoying the view quite well.  After a few minutes to look around, General von Krieger made coughing sound while rubbing his throat.  “All this talk has made me thirsty Herr Schroeder, why don’t you join me for a drink in the main study.  His lordship is there and he is looking forward to meeting you.”  Schroeder nodded and he followed von Krieger.  The men were given no order to follow him so they remained in the garden.

Schroeder followed von Krieger down a pathway that lead to another part of the castle with a garden, only security seemed heavier around here.  Wulfkorp troopers were patrolling the area and guarding certain doorways.  When he and Von Krieger approached one such doorway guarded by what looked like the same kind of guards from the earlier entrance, heavily armored and armed, he and the general stopped there.

“If the lordship is not to busy, tell him that von Krieger is here with company” von Krieger stated plainly.  The one armored knight on the left rapped the door three times with his right gauntlet. An eyehole opened up to reveal a set of familiar eyes.  It was Harbin.  “Here to see his lordship Herr General?” von Krieger frowned “of course I am here to see him you stupid number cruncher, I didn’t bring Herr Schroeder here just to listen to your smartass remarks.”

“Is that you Johann?” a jolly voice said “I thought you’d be coming shortly.  Harbin, don’t be so rude, let our guests in.”  With that said the eye-hole closed shut and loud sounds of various locks being unlocked were heard and then the door opened.  As von Krieger and Captain Schroeder stepped in, after seeing the Wulfkorp facilities, nothing really surprised him anymore, not even the lord’s study.  In the room were seven-foot-five shelves stocked completely with various books of various subjects.  Some of the books looked old and worn while others looked new and recent, it clearly was a place of personal study.

Ten feet from the room and to the right was an opening with a desk piled with notes, a table set up for meetings, a chalkboard with various scientific equations and an individual in who was on a step ladder putting books away and removing some books, which he then handed to Harbin. “So, this is the lad that the Herr General has talked so proudly of” the man on the ladder said pleasantly as he was climbing down.  The general was seen grabbing a wine glass and filling it with red wine.

The individual was dressed in a black silken robe normally worn when one was about to go to sleep.  Despite the fact that the man was a well built individual, with sea green eyes, graying black hair and facial hair, he looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days on account of the fact that his eyes looked so droopy.  “My name is Ludwig von Wulfcastle, the seventh earl of Wulfcastle and head of this clan” he said sticking his hand out with a friendly gesture and smile on his face.

Schroeder returned the gesture by shaking his hand.  “I take it the General has informed you of who I am already?” Schroeder said quizzically.  Ludwig nodded with a smile “He has indeed, quite an impressive record I should say for someone as young as you.  You did your country proud at the Battle of Gravolette.  A lot of Prussian mothers and fathers would have lost many of their sons that day, just as many wives would be without their husbands and children without their fathers if you hadn’t saved them” he said impressively.

“It’s an honor to hear that from someone as esteemed as you my lord” Schroeder said plainly.  “Oh come off it boy” Ludwig chuckled as he slapped Schroeder on the shoulder “I thought the general told you.  Formalities are not necessary; just keep it a little formal but not too much.  We know who we are and if we don’t, then we throw them out” he continued chuckling.  Schroeder seemed dumbfounded by the man’s response.

“Not all nobles are stiff ass peacocks” Ludwig continued with a smile “I find humor and humility are the best ways to govern, otherwise the people on my lands would want nothing to do with me.”  Schroeder shrugged “it’s not for me to say what you can and can’t my….uh I mean Herr Wulfcastle.”  Ludwig maintained his smile “Now that’s the spirit son, now I bet your wondering what those scoundrel Blood Knights were up to, is that right?” he said.

“Yes Herr Wulfcastle, very much so” with that said, Wulfcastle briefly smiled and motioned for him to sit down at the table with the General, Harbin remained standing next to the chalkboard.  “Now that we are settled, let’s attend to the matter at hand” Harbin stated plainly as he pulled out a pointing stick.  “From what little remained at the Fort Blucher research facility we were able to gather sufficient information on the weapon that was stolen, yes Schroeder, Fort Blucher was a military research facility.”

Schroeder was surprised at Harbin for answering his question before he even asked it, but then again it was an obvious question.  “The weapon that was stolen originally belonged to the Blood Knights, but we stole when we raided one of their facilities six months ago.”  “What is this weapon that they were after?” Schroeder asked.  “I was about to get to that” Harbin said as he began to sweat.  What was wrong with him? Schroeder thought to himself, it’s not like he was purposely scaring him.

“The weapon…” he stuttered “the weapon is a noxious vapor containing poison like substances that for some reason kills, but not completely” he gulped “When used on various lab animals it kills them slowly, but then when one researcher tried to remove one of the animals, it somehow came back to life and bit the researcher.  The creature that was removed and was shot to pieces by security it was incinerated along with the rest of the lab animals and the researcher was put in isolation” Harbin finished nervously.

“I have some slide photos of what happened after the researcher was put into isolation” he said as he made the sign of the cross.  An opening suddenly appeared on the floor of the room and a small table with a camera like device appeared and the chalkboard that was attached to the wall flipped over and revealed a white marble like stone surface.  Harbin nervously put one of the photos in the machine.  It showed a black and white picture of a thin, nervous looking man in plain brown pants, no shirt and a wrapping around his left arm.

“At first, it didn’t look like anything happened to him, save the nasty wound which you see on his left arm, but” he said grimly as he put another slide in the machine “What you can see here is what happened four hours after isolation.”  The man in the photo looked slightly pale and droopy eyed, as if he were deathly ill. “Antibiotics were administered to the individual, but four hours after that” he said putting in another slide “it didn’t seem to have any kind of effect and as you can see the patient looks even worse than before.”  Schroeder nodded in agreement, the man in the photo looked half dead, his eyes looking whiter than usual and more hollow, and his skin, his skin looked an ugly grey and…..”Are parts of his skin falling off?” Schroeder said looking disgusted.

Harbin nodded grimly “You are correct Herr Captain, his skin started falling off in lumps” Harbin stated as Schroeder kept his grim face.  “At this point in time when he was asked any questions, he sounded more slurred than before, as if he was drunk, even though he was never given any booze, but  when we went to check on him several hours later to administer more antibiotics” Harbin somewhat hesitated.  “I should warn you; this particular photo is both shocking and disturbing.”

Von Krieger, Schroeder and Wulfcastle nodded grimly.  Harbin acknowledged their nods and put the photo slide in.  What they saw in that photo, was nothing they had ever seen before.  The man, if he could be called such, was not what he looked like before.  His eyes were milky white, his teeth dirty, the skin on his face was peeling off and his flesh looked like it was decaying to the point where his bones were showing.  But the worst part of the photo was how he looked.  He looked more like some savage beast baying for blood then the nervous looking man he was earlier.

“What in god’s name is this madness?” Heinrich said with shock.  “Exactly what I’d like to know” von Krieger said grimly.  Wulfcastle remained silent, but maintained a grim look, as if he had seen this sort of thing before.  Harbin removed the last slide with a sigh of relief and with that, he pushed a button on the table that retracted the slide machine at the hard surface that was used for the projection flipped back to the chalkboard which strangely enough was blank.

“Based on the facts that I, Helga Braun, Lord Wulfcastle and members of the Wulfkorp research teams have determined through extensive research that the weapon is a virus that turns anyone affected by it into living corpses, with a weapon like this, it could be used to decimate villages or even destroy an army, but in the end, if a cure isn’t found, it could mean the end of western civilization maybe even the world.”

A hushed silence fell upon the Lord’s study as they were digesting what was happening.  It was Schroeder who broke the silence “What do the Blood Knights have to gain by doing this and what attempts are being made in order to stop them?”  Schroeder said trying not to sound like he was panicking.  “We have no idea what they are trying to accomplish by unleashing such a weapon, other than terrifying the hell out of us” Harbin said plainly.  “As for what we’re doing in an attempt to stop them” von Krieger chipped in “we have spies within the ranks of the Blood Knights tracking their every movement.”

“From what we received in our latest report, is that the particular group that had attacked Greydorf was being led by an Englishmen named Lord Nathanael Blackthorn” von Krieger stated.  “Where have I heard that name before?” he said quizzically.  “He’s 12^th in line for the throne of England and is the weapons developer for the British military” a voice added in.  Schroeder turned around to see Helga Braun standing there.

She had changed from her tan great-coat and black leather combat suit that she had been wearing earlier, into a scientists outfit.  “Helga” Schroeder said nodding to her.  “Captain Schroeder” she said plainly back to him.  “We think he’s doing this as a means to start a war, a war that would threaten England and give him a better chance of taking the throne of England” von Krieger said, knowing that he wanted to break the tension between Captain Schroeder and Helga Braun.  “I may not have any love for those Union Jack wavers, but I don’t want to have to read the morning papers to find out that men dressed in Prussian army uniforms have unleashed the virus on Buckingham Palace or parliament, when in truth they were Blood Knights.  Assuming that’s what they would do” von Krieger concluded.

“That would be a nightmare” Wulfcastle added “It would be a rally call to many.  Threats of military action, civil unrest, I don’t have to draw you a picture on what would happen in the end Herr Schroeder” Wulfcastle stated grimly. “We don’t know where the Blood Knights will unleash this weapon” Helga cut in “but as the General stated earlier we have spies.  After the attack on Greydorf, our spy learned that the presence of me and the other members of my unit there have forced them to lay low until the heat dies down.”

“But another thing we do know is that somewhere along the Normandy coast line, is a base of operations for the Blood Knights.  Whether it’s the headquarters or not, we don’t know that either.  The spy will get back to us on that” she concluded.  “For now I think it’s time we have dinner, all this information has been very useful, but tiring and depressing.  A good meal will put our minds at ease” Wulfcastle stated optimistically.  With that being said von Krieger, Harbin, Wulfcastle and Helga began to leave.  Schroeder got up at the same time and began to follow Helga outside to the courtyard as von Krieger put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

“I know what you’re going to do and it’s not worth it” von Krieger said plainly.  Schroeder was about to object, but the General put up his left hand to him “you have your men sent to the barracks.  The mess cook will have meals ready and waiting for them.  In the mean time, rest up in your assigned quarters, a dress uniform tailor made for you is in there for tonight’s dinner along with your other personal effects.  A trooper will show you there” von Krieger said as if he was trying help.

Schroeder acknowledged with a salute from his right hand and the general removed his left arm from his shoulder, the General along with the lord and Harbin wanted to remain to discuss other matters.  Schroeder turned to leave the room past the two armored heavily armored guards, as a single trooper in black great coat, a black Pickelhaube on his head, along with what looked like his standard issue weapon, was waiting for him in the courtyard.  “Captain Schroeder?” he asked.  “That is me” Schroeder replied plainly.  “I am here to escort you to your quarters, if you are ready that is” the man said plainly.  “I need to billet the troops first, then you can show me to my quarters” he said as he breathed exhaustively.  He really was looking forward to a nice nap and a hot bath.  “Yes sir” the trooper saluted as he led him out of the courtyard.

Just as he and the trooper were leaving the courtyard to attend to the troops and go lie down, Schroder looked up at the sky and he saw that duck was almost upon them.  “Helga, I hope you still like sunsets just as much as I do, but why won’t you forgive me” he sighed thinking to himself as he approached the fountain area where the troops were resting.  “Alright troops” he commanded “we have a place to bunk, so let’s fall in and grab rest and food” he finished.  The soldiers started picking up their personal effects and began falling into to line.  “Trooper!?” he turned to the one who he met in courtyard.

“Yes sir?” he asked.  “Show us to the barracks and then to my quarters.”  The trooper saluted as he went to the head of the line of men.  “Follow his lead men” Schroeder ordered.