Saturday, March 6, 1925, and the Three Amigos woke up to a delicious breakfast prepared by Chef Thibaude. It was decided to take a bus ride to Carrizozo to examine some of the strange cases of fatal decay that seemed to plague Lincoln County. The victims may have blissful and content, but they were nevertheless dying, and leaving loved one and dependents behind. McCloud was also eager to seek out Christobal Correira, the expert on anthropology and New Mexican folklore, who he had met once before. He hoped that Correira might have some ideas about this particular malaise and if it had occurred in the past.
The afflicted patients in Lincoln were taken care of and given nourishment intravenously by nurse Pettenkoffer, Lotus Ashford had to deal with business at the Mitscher Ranch, so McCloud and Cannon decided to bring along "Swede" Larsson, the tough mining foreman, on an uneventful bus ride to Carrizozo.
The Carrizozo infirmary had several cases that seemed identical to what Cannon and McCloud had noticed in Lincoln, including mention of a tall man in dark clothing. Cannon tried to find out more abouth the Red Right Hand, but whatever Cannon said terrified the patient, who started suffering acute physical symptoms. This was the cue for Cannon, McCloud and Larsson to seek out Christobal Correira.
Correira
The antropologist and scholar lived in a small but very nice Spanish-style casa together with a housekeeper. The investigators did actually carry a letter of introduction from Father Bose, and they were greeted warmly. Christobal Correira was intrigued by the events, and he invited Cannon and McCloud to enter his small but tightly stocked library. They all started going through old documents, news clippings and books, and Saturday diasppeared into Sunday. It was early Sunday morning when Cannon found an old news clipping in a book on local legends:
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Diario Las Cruces
Vagabond Killed by Violent Mob
Las Cruces, November 2, 1858
The vagabond possibly known as Jonathan Bierce or Jon Price, but also Il Mano Derecha Roja, was buried late at night on October 31 at Cañón de Serpientes north of Robles Blancos after being lynched by a violent mob a week before. The odd vagabond was known throughout the region and suspected of molesting men, women and children as well as horse theft. Old women crossed themselves, and the Church of Santa Barbara celebrated a special mass on the occasion.
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Further research revealed the following:
"Legend has that this padre, or soldier, wounded and fleeing from some calamity during the Mexican War, ended up in or around New Mexico. He was taken in by the Indians, and he did missionary work for two or so years before disappearing. Other legends state that he was caught red-handed when raping a medicine man’s daughter, and branded before being banned, or that he was a curse from God.
The man was in all probability a padre from the Mexican War, possibly named John Pierce, Jonathan Bierce, Johnston Bryce or Jon Price. He actually managed to become an acolyte to a fearful and vengeful Apace medicine man, Fleet Horse, later Carrion Rider. He managed to use his powers on many local communities in New Mexico, but not to help the Apache, but just to gain power and knowledge. He was eventually killed by a mob of townspeople in Las Cruces in 1858, and buried out of town in White Oaks, as far as humanely possible from humanity (at that point)."
A visit to the Church of Santa Barbara seemed to confirm this, although old Padre Luis was terrified and gathered the congregation for a special mass to ward off the devil.
Rest was needed, but on Monday morning, March 8, McCloud rented a couple of horses, and after dioing an inventory of their supplies, the three investigators headed up towards Robles Blancos, or White Oaks, as the place is named in English. Despite a description of the the Cañón de Serpientesin the church ledgers, the exacto location was hard to find, but just an hour before sunset, the investigators discovered an overgrown gorge on a hillside that just might have been it! "Swede" Larsson was left to guard horses as Cannon and McCloud started climbing. As the sun was setting, they found two slabs at the end of the gorge, slabs that seemed to form the door to grave. The doors were secured by chains and a padlock, but a pickaxe solevd that problem.
The sun had set by now, but Cannon and McCloud continued working, their flashlights casting eerie shadows around the the Cañón de Serpientes. Frank Cannon pulled at the right slab, and the narrow beams from the flashlights did indeed reveal a small tomb - and a floor covered by familiar snakes, quite similar to the ones encountered when transporting the paintings of the Gnospelius sisters! It was too dark to contemplate climbing down and leaving the exploration for tomorrow, but any discussions about what to do were cut short by a blood-curdling scream of utter despair from further down the gorge. The scream was followed by the panciked neighing of a horse, or even several horses. McCloud and Cannon feared that something horrible had befallen poor "Swede" Larsson, and they set up a bonfire just south of the grave
"Swede" Larsson
Frank Cannon decided to enter the grave, and he also decided to smash a kerosene-filled lantern against the floor to get rid of the snakes. He then entered the tomb, and proceeded to the actual coffin. He managed to budge the lid open, revealing a skeleton of what must have been a quite tall man. Hos clothing was in tatters, but he was wearing an odd-looking necklace composed of several dozen small baubles. Frank Cannon put the necklace around his own well-endowed neck, but it caused him much discomfort, seemingly alternating between searing heat and deathly cold. It was then that the door closed. Bill McCloud was outside, and quite alone. He started noticing flickering shadows in the dark aas well a s mot putrid stench, and he fired off a shotgun shell. The muzzle flash revealed a horrible presence, a fanged and evil face that seemed to be intent on devouring McCloud. The ghastly being also seemed ta use somethinhg that was close to human language, seemingly mocking McCloud, who fired off another shotgun shell, but to no avail. At this point, McCloud heard the disturbing parody of a human voice whispering quite close: "behind you...."
McCloud realized that he had his back snugly against the tomb, and he chose to look up instead, his Great War experiences leaving him relatively unfazed. It was just in the nick of time, as some form of alien horror attcked McCloud from above, throwing himself recklessly at McCloud, who managed to fire off yet another shotgun shell. Sveral buckshot hot the creature's left shoulder, showering McClound with blackish green ichor.
Meanwhile, Frank Cannon struggled to open the door to the tomb nefore the snakes recaptured their abode. He groaned as he forced the door open, and he stumbled out of the strange tomb just to see McCloud being assailed by a repulsive creature. The entity was biting down hard on McCloud, and it was difficult for Cannon to get a clear shot. Eventually a shotgun blast flung the beast off the badly wounded McCloud, who endured to finish off the strange and repulsive creature with a great many jabs from his trusty Bowie knife. The creature was definitely dead, but what was it?
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