Blood-Lines

Part 2

Summer, 1878 / Goblin's Toe, Wyoming

Clementine Blue sat quietly as she pulled weeds from around the base of her sister Daniela's tombstone.

Long black skirt tucked beneath slender legs, dark auburn-red hair gently splashed across the rounded curves of her blouse and down her back.

A square, sterling silver pendant adorned with a blood-red ruby lay nestled in the narrow hollow revealed by the low cut of her blouse; handcrafted for a family member long ago, the pendant could hold any spell that she chose to cast upon it for the length of a day.

All that was required for the spell to be cast was a drop of her blood or the ever casual brush of her finger.

Through an ever subtle and often tarnished blood-line that wove its way through her extended family, she alone could use the pendant; while anyone else would have simply found it to be nothing more than the charming decoration that it appeared to be rather than the tool or weapon that it actually was.

Before her first trip west, her stepfather had also undoubtedly foreseen the possibility of vampires when he'd suggested that she always wear the silken narrow black neck wrap with stitched cross patterns of warning just in case.

Her long standing preference for dark clothing only served to further enhance cover spells with any hint of color carefully subdued or well blended to protect against any possible distortion; while allowing only the lightest touch of makeup along with steadfast abhorrence of even the faintest scent of perfume that may have otherwise aroused suspicion, she could easily cast glamour and pass through any crowd virtually undetected.

Glamour - her spell of choice - could make her appear old and haggard or elegant and alluring at her whim while subdued light would also allow her to pass as a man where women entertained and seduced their clients with certain impunity.

Ignored and alone in most any dark corner of her choosing, she would listen and enjoy the entertainment that went on around her while she watched and learned.

Such methods had proven well worth every effort that went into them as she gathered bits of news and rumor that were often plentiful amongst the travelers that passed through town.

Her morning ritual with each new day was as it had been for the last three years where she rose just before dawn with the night yet still at its darkest.

The streets of Goblin's Toe, Wyoming often proved quiet in the early morning with the soft rustle of curtains from the open windows of the brothels that served to smother snoring that might otherwise have filtered out from the lust-filled rooms just behind them.

Blessings of the goddess had allowed the nights to remain otherwise cool during the unrelenting heat wave.

A solitary miner out for a smoke break at the entrance of the Donnetelli Scaggs mine nodded as she passed; covered as he was with a thin coat of dust, his appearance was not unlike that of a phantom in the darkness.

The gaping mouth of the mine had often reminded her of the maw of a giant beast as it may have tried to claw its way out of the hillside.

Her memory allowed her to travel without light as she followed the worn path up through the tall grasses of the ridge.

With each visit, she often brought what news their family may have sent from back east while bits and pieces of life from the mining town that had become their home would also serve as entertainment as she spoke of them.

Tending Daniela's grave had also helped pass the time as the rising sun bathed the valley below them with light to reveal beauty as only the goddess herself could provide that was stunning to watch unfold, something Clementine often enjoyed until midday when her duties as hostess for the Long Branch eventually called her down from the ridge.