Downwinders: Blood Oath, Blood River Part 39

ENDOWMENT A religious ceremony created by Joseph Smith and organized/inst.i.tuted by Brigham Young. The LDS version of the ceremony is performed in temples. People who wish to be sealed must first perform this ceremony. The ceremony is considered preparation to become a king or queen in the afterlife, by taking part in a scripted reenactment of the Adam and Eve story. During the ceremony, the person makes several oaths, many based on Masonic oaths, including a promise to keep the oaths themselves secret. The ceremony has been changed several times since its inception, primarily to remove objectionable and violent elements. Prior to 1990, the oaths included penalties that involved ways in which life could be taken if the oaths were violated. Prior to 1927, the oaths included an Oath of Vengeance: "You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty G.o.d to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children's children unto the third and fourth generation." The "prophets" were Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, killed by a mob in Illinois. "This nation" was the United States. In addition to removing the Oath of Vengeance in 1927, the LDS Church also softened the language of the penalties from specific ways in which the penalties might be executed ("my throat ... be cut from ear to ear, and my tongue torn out by its roots...our b.r.e.a.s.t.s ... be torn open, our hearts and vitals torn out and given to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field...your body ... be cut asunder and all your bowels gush out") to a gentler "suffer my life to be taken." See Wikipedia, "Endowment (Latter Day Saints)" page, Wikipedia, "Endowment (Mormonism)" page, and Wikipedia, "Oath of Vengeance" page.

EXCOMMUNICATION A disciplinary act of a church against a member. In the LDS church, an excommunication is conducted if church leaders determine that a serious sin was committed. The LDS teach that the excommunication eliminates the chance for that person to reach the Celestial Kingdom and nullifies all ordinances such as baptism, endowments, and sealings. If the person repents and rejoins the church after a period of exile, their ordinances can be restored. See Wikipedia, "Excommunication" page, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" section.

EXIMERE (Spoiler alert: skip this paragraph if you have not read Eximere, the fourth book in The River series.) Eximere is the name of an underground house in the novel of the same name. The house was created by a character that was gifted, but renounced his gift and worked to undermine the gift in others by draining their abilities, killing them, and stealing any memoirs and objects they may have possessed, keeping them locked away in the secret underground mansion. Steven and Roy Hall, along with Eliza Winters, discover Eximere under the haunted estate of Harold Unser on the Olympic peninsula of Washington State, and establish a way to take possession of the place, working to restore the stolen memoirs and objects to their rightful owners or heirs. Restoring memoirs has been an easier task than restoring objects, since the memoirs can be read and an owner more easily determined. The objects at Eximere do not have obvious owners and most have unexplained abilities and powers that Steven, Roy, and Eliza have not discovered. See "Eximere" by Michael Richan. Better yet, read all of the books in the entire River series! See "By The Author" at the beginning of this book.

EXTERMINATION ORDER Missouri Executive Order 44, issued by the governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs, in 1838. Its most dramatic wording included: "...the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace..." It was used as justification for forced expulsion of Mormons from their properties in Missouri. Some of the more notorious expulsions were done in the middle of cold winter nights, forcing Mormon families to abandon all of their possessions and run into nearby fields with nothing more than the clothes on their back, watching from a distance as angry mobs burned their homes and farms. It wasn't rescinded until 1976, when then-governor Kit Bond acknowledged the unconst.i.tutional nature of the order. See Wikipedia, "Missouri Executive Order 44" page.

FUNDAMENTALISTS (MORMON) In order for Utah to become a state, the LDS Church was forced to give up the practice of polygamy that it had condoned in the 19th century; US laws forbade polygamy. The LDS church formally renounced polygamy in 1890, after sixty years of teaching that it was only by polygamy that a person could reach the highest level of the celestial kingdom in the next life. Many members of the LDS church in 1890 weren't prepared to part with this teaching, and broke off from the church, becoming smaller groups known as fundamentalists. They continue to believe that polygamy is a divinely sanctioned practice, and they hold to several other teachings from the Brigham Young era, such as blood atonement, the "Adam-G.o.d theory," and that black males cannot receive the priesthood. Perhaps the most famous fundamentalist in modern times is Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the largest of the break-off sects. See Wikipedia, "Mormon Fundamentalism" page, Wikipedia, "Mormonism and Polygamy" page, Wikipedia, "Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" page, and the "Jeffs, Warren" glossary entry.

FUNERAL POTATOES A delicious but unhealthy traditional ca.s.serole served as a side dish at Mormon after-funeral communal meals in Utah and Idaho. Often prepared by the sisters of a ward for those who are grieving or ill. See Wikipedia, "Funeral Potatoes" page.

GADIANTON ROBBERS A secret organization of people, described in the Book of Mormon. They formed large criminal organizations, and identified each other by secret signs. They were responsible for a.s.sa.s.sinations in the Book of Mormon story. As a group, they appear in three different iterations over the span of the book. Modern folklore speculates that the organization still exists to this day. See Wikipedia, "Gadianton Robbers" page.

GARDNER, RONNIE LEE - Received the death penalty for murder in 1985, and was executed by firing squad by the state of Utah in 2010. The execution of Gardner at Utah State Prison became the focus of media attention in June 2010, because it was the first to be carried out by firing squad in the United States in fourteen years. Gardner stated that he sought this method of execution because of his Mormon background. See Wikipedia, "Ronnie Lee Gardner" page.

GENEALOGY The study of families and the tracing of family trees. Members of the LDS Church are primarily interested in genealogy for the purpose of acquiring names for proxy ordinances in temples. See Wikipedia, "Family History Library" page.

GENERAL AUTHORITY The highest levels of leadership in the LDS Church, including, in descending order, the president of the church and his counsellors, a quorum of twelve apostles, and a group known as the quorum of the seventy. Collectively, these men are colloquially referred to within the church as "the brethren." In the hierarchy, stake presidents report to members of the quorum of the seventy. Unlike the positions of stake president and bishop, general authorities are paid by the church. The president of the church is considered a prophet by default of his position, and members of the church are expected to support and sustain all general authorities. See Wikipedia, "General Authority" page.

INVESTIGATOR LDS term for a person who isn't a member of the church but might be interested in becoming a member. Mormon missionaries call potential converts who are studying the church "investigators."

JACK MORMON A lapsed or inactive member of the LDS church. See Wikipedia, "Jack Mormon" page.

JEFFS, WARREN Leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Convicted in St. George, UT in 2007 of two counts of rape as an accomplice. His conviction was overturned by the Utah Supreme Court due to improper jury instructions. He was extradited to Texas, where the church had a temple that had been raided by authorities. He was convicted in Texas of s.e.xual a.s.sault and aggravated s.e.xual a.s.sault of children. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.

KACHINA A personification of a spirit or of something in the real world. Common in western Native American cultures, particular the Hopi. Each pueblo community has its own pantheon of Kachinas, which can represent anything including astronomical features, such as the sun and stars. Kachinas are not worshiped, but are venerated. See Wikipedia "Kachina" page, and the "Blue Star Prophecy" glossary entry.

LAFFERTY BOYS Ron and Dan Lafferty, members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect known as the "School of Prophets." In 1984, acting on a revelation Ron claimed he received from G.o.d, they brutally murdered the wife and daughter of their brother, Allen. Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter, Erica, were killed in their home, their throats slashed. Police found Ron's written "revelation" and along with Dan were convicted. Dan was sentenced to life without parole, and Ron is on death row in Utah. Their story was told in the bestselling Under the Banner of Heaven. See Wikipedia, "Under the Banner of Heaven" page, and Under the Banner of Heaven, by John Krakauer.

LDS Abbreviation for Latter Day Saint, a name given to followers of any of the various religious sects which sprang from Joseph Smith. Latter Day Saints are commonly called "Mormons" because of their belief that Smith's work, the Book of Mormon, is divine scripture. The largest and most common of the sects is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, with an estimated worldwide membership of 15 million as of 2013. Communities in areas of Utah outside of Salt Lake City are heavily dominated by Mormons and Mormon culture, particularly southern Utah and Nevada, northern Arizona, western Colorado, and southern Idaho. See Wikipedia, "List of Sects in the Latter Day Saint Movement" page.

LEE, JOHN D. An early prominent Mormon, executed in 1877 by firing squad for his role in the Mountain Meadows Ma.s.sacre (1857). He was an alleged Danite. He was excommunicated, and tried twice for the ma.s.sacre. Lee maintained that he'd become a scapegoat, drawing attention away from the church leaders who had authorized the action. Lee was the only person held accountable for the ma.s.sacre. His final words were: "I do not believe everything that is now being taught and practiced by Brigham Young. I do not care who hears it. It is my last word... I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner." In 1961 his membership in the LDS Church was reinstated. See Wikipedia, "John D. Lee" page.

MORONI ("right out of Moroni") A character in the Book of Mormon who auth.o.r.ed the final section of the book. The most famous and oft-repeated part of Moroni's writings is a pa.s.sage that is routinely used by Mormon missionaries to challenge a potential convert to accept the book as true. It's referred to as "Moroni's Promise," and it reads: "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask G.o.d, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost." The idea is that, if something is true, G.o.d will cause some sort of sign to tell you that it is true. Moroni, incidentally, is the gold statue seen on most LDS temples. See Wikipedia, "Moroni (Book of Mormon prophet)" page.

MOUNTAIN MEADOWS Ma.s.sACRE A series of attacks on an emigrant wagon train from Arkansas, pa.s.sing through Utah in 1857 on its way to California. Stopped at Mountain Meadows, north of St. George, UT, the wagon train was attacked for five days by a band of Mormons dressed as Native Americans, along with some Paiutes that the Mormons had solicited to partic.i.p.ate. Fearful that members of the wagon train had discovered their disguises, the attackers ensured that anyone over the age of seven was killed. One hundred and twenty men, women and children were murdered and hastily buried in the meadow. Seventeen children, under age seven, were placed with local Mormon families. Historians have decided the attack was a result of several elements, including strident Mormon teachings (such as the Oath of Vengeance), a strong mistrust of outsiders, a fear of impending war with the United States and invasion of the Utah territory by US soldiers, retribution for the death of Parley Pratt, killed in Arkansas that year, and taunting from the wagon train itself, claiming, as it pa.s.sed through Mormon settlements, that they had in their possession the gun that killed Joseph Smith. The attack was organized by church leaders in Cedar City. Only John D. Lee was tried for the murders, although many others were involved. Historians disagree whether Brigham Young had knowledge of the event or sanctioned it. Today, the site of the ma.s.sacre is marked by a monument. See Wikipedia, "Mountain Meadows Ma.s.sacre" page.

OKAZAKI A reference to Chieko N. Okazaki (1926-2011) who was one of the most-read LDS authors, specializing in books for LDS women. She confronted tough subjects honestly and with an unusual candor and insight. Her first book, Lighten Up! is a collection of her speeches. See Wikipedia, "Chieko N. Okazaki" page.

PRIESTHOOD MEETING All males in the LDS Church over twelve years of age hold the priesthood. A priesthood meeting is one of a weekly series of meetings that LDS men attend, usually held on Sundays. At the beginning of the meeting, all men meet together. After an initial prayer, hymn, and announcements, the men break into cla.s.ses according to their priesthood office (if they are over eighteen) or divide by age groups (if they are under eighteen). See Wikipedia, "Worship Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" page, "Priesthood Meetings" section.

PRIMARY A weekly meeting for children in the LDS church, held on Sundays. It is divided into two age groups. See Wikipedia, "Worship Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" page, "Primary" section.

SACRAMENT MEETING A weekly Sunday meeting for members of the LDS church, open to visitors. The service is similar to most protestant churches where communion is offered. The meeting is characterized by prayers (invocations and benedictions) hymn singing, ward announcements, talks given by selected speakers, and the pa.s.sing of the sacrament, which is consecrated bread and water, pa.s.sed among the partic.i.p.ants. See Wikipedia, "Sacrament Meeting" page.

SEALINGS A sealing is an ordinance performed by the LDS in temples. Most sealings are marriages, "sealing" the marriage partners for both time and eternity, a bond that is considered to transcend death. Children born to the couple are considered "born under the covenant" and are automatically sealed to their parents. The LDS teach that a temple sealing is a necessary ordinance to achieve the highest level of the celestial kingdom. Proxy sealings are ordinances conducted on the behalf of a couple who is dead, with the belief that the deceased persons may choose to accept or reject the ordinance. See Wikipedia, "Sealing (Mormonism)" page.

SHILAH Navajo for "brother."

SMITH, JR., JOSEPH Founder of Mormonism and first president of the church. He was born in Vermont in 1805. By age 24, he had published the Book of Mormon. He led the church as it moved from upstate New York, where it was founded, to Ohio, Missouri, and finally Illinois. He originated almost all of the church's doctrinal teachings, including the Endowment ceremony, which he tasked Brigham Young to construct and organize for presentation in the Nauvoo, IL temple. He was murdered by a mob in Carthage, IL at the age of 38. He had attracted thousands of followers from around the world, most of whom chose to follow Brigham Young after his death. Many smaller groups continued on their own in Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. See Wikipedia, "Joseph Smith" page.

STAKE A geographical collection of LDS wards (congregations). Usually five to ten wards form a stake. There is usually one meetinghouse in the stake that is larger than the others, and contains the offices for the stake officers (such as the stake president and high council.) This larger meetinghouse is called the "stake center." See Wikipedia, "Stake (Latter Day Saints)" page.

STAKE PRESIDENT A position in the LDS church hierarchy. Local members are part of a ward, overseen by a Bishop. Five to ten geographically contiguous wards form an administrative unit called a stake. General Authorities appoint a stake president, to whom all local Bishops within the stake boundaries report. The stake president chooses two men from within the stake to serve as his counsellors. The three men, together, are referred to as the "stake presidency." See Wikipedia, "Stake (Latter Day Saints)" page, "Stake Officers" section.

TAYLOR, JOHN Third president of the LDS Church, following Brigham Young. Once a man is appointed the leader of the church, they serve until they die. Taylor was president from 1880 to 1887. He was a strong supporter of polygamy. See Wikipedia "John Taylor (Mormon)" page.

TEMPLE MARRIAGE See "Sealings" glossary entry.

UNSER, JAMES (Spoiler alert: skip this paragraph if you have not read Eximere, the fourth book in The River series.) James Unser is a character is the book Eximere. Steven and Roy Hall, along with Eliza Winters, discover that Unser was gifted, but despised his gift and sought to eliminate it in others. He would capture and kill other gifteds, and keep their memoirs and objects, denying their heirs their inheritance. He built an underground area called "Eximere" as a home base for his activities. Steven, Roy, and Eliza, having discovered Eximere, are working to return memoirs and object to their rightful owners. See "Eximere" by Michael Richan. Better yet, read all of the book in The River series! See "By The Author" at the beginning of this book for a list.

VISITING TEACHERS Most LDS women are asked to visit other women in the ward on a monthly basis, along with an a.s.signed female companion, to check on the welfare of those they have been a.s.signed. The visit usually includes the delivery of a spiritual message selected for that month by Salt Lake. Since most of those receiving visits are also Visiting Teachers to others, they're in the awkward position of listening to the presentation of a spiritual message they've likely delivered to other women already.

WARD A local congregation of LDS members, usually from 25 to 500 members in size. A bishop, selected from among the congregation, oversees the temporal and spiritual needs of the ward, and serves without pay. The bishop reports to a stake president.

WINZE A vertical pa.s.sageway in an underground mine used to connect levels (as opposed to a shaft, which is connected to the surface.) YOUNG, BRIGHAM Second leader of the LDS Church, from 1847 to 1877. Under his leadership, members of the LDS Church emigrated from the United States to the west, settling in areas that are now the states of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and California. Prior to Young's exodus, the LDS church had struggled to survive in New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, constantly running into problems with neighbors, but in the western deserts of North America they were able to gain a foothold and grow. Young wielded considerable power; in addition to being the president of the Church, he was also the first governor of the Utah territory. He essentially presided over a theocracy, and church doctrines and practices under his leadership reflected that. See Wikipedia, "Brigham Young" page, and Forgotten Kingdom: The Mormon Theocracy in the American West, 1847-1896, by David Bigler.

Michael Richan lives in Seattle, Washington. He was born in California and raised in Utah.

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The Downwinders series: Blood Oath, Blood River The Impossible Coin The Graves of Plague Canyon The River series: The Bank of the River Residual A Haunting in Oregon Ghosts of Our Fathers Eximere The Suicide Forest Devil's Throat The Diablo Horror The Haunting at Grays Harbor It Walks At Night The Dark River series: A.

All three series are part of The River Universe, and there is crossover of some characters and plots. For a suggested reading order, see the Author's Website.

Complimentary first chapter of the next t.i.tle in The Downwinders series The Impossible Coin "I'll go first," Awan said. "You two stay to the side. They know me, but if they see you, they'll be suspicious. Once I walk through the door, you can come out of hiding and follow me in."

"Do you think they're armed?" Deem asked.

"Hard to say," Awan replied. "They're both a couple of bozos, really."

"Great," Winn said. "Stupid people with guns."

"Just be forceful, don't take any backtalk," Awan said. "They've never heard of blood souring anyway, so they won't know what I'm doing. Keep them confused until I'm done."

Winn was itching to get on with it. "Alright," he said. "Let's go."

"Deem?" Awan asked. "You ready?"

Deem looked a little nervous. "I've only used a shotgun before," she said, looking down at the pistol Awan loaned her.

"Remember, we're not here to shoot anyone," Awan said. "If I wanted to kill these guys, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble to get the ghost matter. Your job is just to scare them and get them onto the floor; I'll handle the rest."

"Right," she said, gulping.

They got out of Awan's truck, parked a few hundred feet from the trailer on the outskirts of town. As they walked toward it, they pa.s.sed piles of rusted metal and discarded objects, items the brothers had disposed of without bothering to cart off to the county landfill. The closer they got to the trailer, the more junk rose out of the desert sand.

Deem and Winn positioned themselves on either side of the door, and Awan paused for a moment, looking at both of them before he knocked, making sure they were ready.

Winn held the gun up against his chest. As he released the safety, he recalled scouting for ghost matter with Awan several weeks back, harvesting it from a mine outside of Fallon. The brothers inside the trailer had been using Callers to extort money from local townsfolk, threatening them with ghostly visitations if they didn't pay up. The brothers had become way too greedy and frightened so many people that some had approached Awan to see if he could do anything to help. Awan, Winn, and Deem all had the gift, an ability to enter a place called "the River" and see all of the things others could not: a constant flow of hidden images, including ghosts.

This should go fine, Winn thought, as long as they don't have a Caller in there with them right now. Winn hated Callers always had. Callers were ghosts that became ambitious and struck deals with local cave spirits. Callers were more powerful than normal ghosts, thanks to abilities bestowed upon them by the cave spirit in exchange for what the cave spirits desired most blood. Callers were always looking for blood to provide to the cave spirits, to keep up their end of the deal. Cave spirits preferred human blood but would take whatever blood the Caller supplied.

The brothers inside the trailer struck a deal with a Caller to scare people in town who didn't pay their extortion money. In exchange, the brothers kept the Caller supplied with fresh kill they could use to feed their cave spirit. Awan discovered that the brothers were usually supplying the Caller with coyotes they'd hunt in the land south of their trailer, but lately a lot of dogs had disappeared from town.

Awan agreed to help the people in town who were paying money to the brothers, and Winn and Deem had agreed to help Awan. Awan found a blood souring technique in his grandfather's journals, and he spent the past few weeks preparing the materials. Once they applied the blood souring to the brothers, the blood of anything they touched would become slightly tainted, just enough to cause the cave spirit to reject it. The Caller would be forced to locate blood somewhere else, and would stop helping the brothers. Problem solved.

Awan knocked on the door. "Ernie?" he shouted. "Delmar? Open up. I need to talk to you."

Winn pressed himself against the side of the trailer next to the door and felt it move under his back as someone inside began walking. He looked at Deem, who was similarly pressed against the other side of the door. She looked amped up. This isn't her thing, he thought. Holding people at gunpoint. More my thing.

"Is that you, Awan?" they heard from inside as the door cracked open. It slowly swung wider, and Winn could see and smell a large cloud emerge from the trailer. He immediately recognized the odor pot. "Whatchu want?"

"I want to talk to you," Awan said, marching up the steps toward the door.

"Ain't got nothin' to talk to you about," came the voice from inside, but Awan was still moving, determined to enter. As he pa.s.sed the doorframe, Winn slid in behind him, jumping to the third step. Deem was right behind him.

Awan walked into the trailer and quickly stepped aside to allow Winn and Deem to enter. It was dark inside, but Winn could see the brother in front of him, dressed in overalls. He raised the gun to him.

"What is this, Awan?" the man asked.

"Just get down on the ground, Ernie," Awan replied. "Where's Delmar?"

The man in the overalls began to descend to the floor. "Ain't gonna tell ya," he said.

"Deeper in the trailer," Awan said to Winn and Deem. As Ernie reached the floor, Awan placed a knee in his back, pinning him down. He reached under Ernie's chest, releasing one of the straps on his overalls, and pulled the material down, exposing the skin on Ernie's back.

"Now, hold on there, Awan," Ernie said, laughing. He was as high as a kite. "I ain't into that s.h.i.t, you know!"

Awan ignored him and pulled a small metal cylinder from his jacket pocket. It looked like a miniature tin can. He placed it over one of Ernie's kidneys and pressed it into the man's white flesh.

Winn heard rustling from deeper in the trailer. "Stay on him," he said to Deem, motioning to Ernie. "I'll find the other one."

He walked down the trailer's hallway. There were three doors ahead of him two of them open, the middle one closed. The rustling was from behind the closed door.

"Come on out," Winn said. "Nice and slow."

"I ain't done," came the voice from inside.

Great, Winn thought. He's on the can. And I was worried about this?

Winn waited until the door opened. A short but rotund man emerged, dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts.

Winn pointed the gun at him. "Over there," Winn said, waving the gun in the direction of the living room. The man padded down the hallway, seeing his brother on the ground under Awan.

"Whatcha doin' to Ernie?" he asked.

Deem turned when she heard the other brother and pointed her gun at him. "Down on the ground," she said to him.

"I don't think you know who you're messin' with, Awan," Delmar said as he dropped to his knees. "You rob us, you'll never get a decent night's sleep ever again. You'll have night terrors for the rest of your life."

"Stow it," Awan said, removing the object from Ernie's back. It left a faint red mark on the man's skin. "On your stomach, Delmar."

"This here's the worst decision you've ever made, Awan," Delmar said as he lowered himself to the floor of the trailer, his face next to a discarded copy of Rolling Stone magazine, Bob Dylan's face next to Delmar's. "We're gonna see to it that your family spends the rest of their days terrified. How do you like that?"

"You were always so full of s.h.i.t, Delmar," Awan said as he pressed a knee into the man's back and positioned the object. "You aren't going to do anything. You and Ernie have been stealing money from people, and yet you still live in this s.h.i.thole? I'm guessing you smoked it all away." Awan pressed the object into Delmar's back and held it in place as its ingredients pa.s.sed through the man's skin and into his kidney.

"With your sister," Delmar said.

Awan leaned into his knee, pressing harder on Delmar's back. "You're a pig, you know that?"

"So is she," Delmar said. "She loves to take it..."

Awan cut him off by grabbing Delmar's hair with his free hand and pulling his head back.

"Slit his throat, will you?" Awan said to Winn. "Let's slice him open and let him bleed out right here in his pig sty."

"Gladly," Winn said, kneeling next to the man's exposed neck.

"Hold on, fellas," Delmar said. "I ain't told you the best part yet."

"And what is that?" Winn asked.

"She squealed when I rutted her, right here on the floor!"

Winn pulled back and swung at Delmar, knocking his head free of Awan's grip. His head fell to the floor, knocked out.

"Thank you," Awan said to Winn.

"You better not 'a killed him," Ernie said, looking up from the floor at the other end of the room. "I'll tell the sheriff you did it."

"You go right ahead and call the sheriff, Ernie," Awan said, holding the object in place on Delmar's back as it finished its work. "I'm sure he'd love to come around and have a chat. Maybe I'll call him myself as soon as we leave here. Tell him about the strange odors in this trailer. Tell him to come visit you, and to bring the drug dogs."

"Now, Awan," Ernie said, pretending to smile. "Ain't gotta do that. I'm sure Delmar's fine."