This Weird West story finds a young African American man searching for his missing father in the foothills of Colorado during the gold rush. What he finds may just change his life forever.
“Run, boy!” my father cried. “Run and don’t look back. Find them hunters and tell them what you saw. It’s the only chance I may have.”
The shadows pressed closer, threatening to surround me. With a desperate glance at my father, I turned and bolted down the gulch. A banshee wind whipped as I struggled to find my footing in the inky dark. After a bit, I cut up the rocky side to lead the shadows away from my camp.
Heavy rain began to pour, the driving wet soaked me to the bone. As I stumbled in search of respite, I still felt as though I was being watched. Though I could no longer see the writhing shadows, the feeling would not leave me. Then, I saw a faint yellow light in the distance that soon became the outline of a house.
Salvation! In my haste to approach, I misstepped and turned my ankle on the wet rocks. Crying out, I fell down an embankment, smashing my lantern against one stone, striking my knee upon another and my head upon a third. Lying in a blearied state, I thought I felt a figure loom over me, but I could not be sure as the darkness overtook me.