Alone on the Vast Plains

Jessup, a white man venturing west with his wife and child, was alone on the vast, unforgiving prairie. The wagon train he had been traveling with had moved on, leaving him to tend to his broken-down wagon. The land, known to the Cheyenne as the Moon When the Green Grass was up, was now dry and desolate, with short brown grass stretching as far as the eye could see.

Jessup and many other settlers who traveled from the East needed to prepare for the harsh realities of this land. They carried too many unnecessary belongings, like chairs, beds, crates of clothing, and even music boxes, which burdened their horses and often led to their deaths. The prairie was littered with the bleached bones of these animals and sometimes even the settlers themselves.

Jessup had been negligent with his wagon, and the captain of the wagon train, a loud man named Jack, had warned him that they would not wait for him. The train, consisting of seven wagons and a pack mule train, was hired by a man in search of ancient bones. These bones, believed to belong to large animals predating the Cheyenne, excited the man and his crew as they dug into the ground.

As Jessup smeared grease on the wagon hub, his back ached from the work. He looked up at the sky and saw gray clouds rolling in from the east, threatening a storm. The wind picked up, carrying a cold chill that sometimes brought rain or snow during the Moon When the Green Grass was up. Jessup pulled his coat tighter against the cold wind.

Fearful and saddened by their isolation, his wife tried to calm the horses. She missed her home and family back East. Their daughter, a small girl in a red polka-dot dress, called out to Jessup, excitedly showing him a stray dog she had found. The thin and rib-showing dog wagged its tail happily at the girl’s attention.

Jessup warned his daughter not to get too close to the dog, suspecting it had been abandoned by another wagon train. Despite the dog’s friendliness, Jessup insisted they could not keep it, given their scarce resources. As he rubbed grease off his hands, a strong gust of wind nearly took his hat, and he pulled it tighter. His daughter pleaded to keep the dog, but Jessup returned to his wife, frustrated by their predicament.

Suddenly, Jessup heard his daughter scream. He frantically searched for her, telling his wife to stay with the nervous horses. He feared the dog had bitten his daughter, but the reality was far worse. He found her lifeless body, brutally torn apart, her insides strewn across the ground, and her head severed.

Jessup was paralyzed by the horrific sight, unable to comprehend the scene before him!

His wife’s anguished cry broke through his shock. Two of their horses lay dead, their guts spilled over the ground, while the remaining horses reared in panic, struggling to break free. Jessup called out for his wife but saw no sign of her—utter nothingness.

Then he saw it—the creature responsible for the carnage. Nearly as tall as the wagon, it held his wife in its mouth, her body jerking as the creature chewed on her. Her long, bloody hair streamed down as blood fell in rivulets to the ground. Jessup was rooted to the spot, consumed by terror, unable to move or think.

The creature’s dark eyes locked onto Jessup, and it grinned at him, a madman’s grin. At that moment, Jessup’s fate was sealed, his dreams of a new life on the prairie shattered by a force beyond his comprehension.

This is only the beginning. The complete story can be found in “The Ancient Blood-A Story of Horror in the West.”

“The Ancient Blood-A Story of Horror in the West” is a captivating new novel of the supernatural by acclaimed author Steven M. Wilson. In a desperate battle that forces traditional enemies to band together to fight an ancient, supernatural creature feeding on fear and death, “THE ANCIENT BLOOD: A Story of Horror in the West” sets an intense plot that will challenge the ordinary and the unexpected. Filled with action, horror, drama, suspense, mystery, humor, and suspicion, witness as The Walking Man, the Cheyenne tribe, and the soldier fight their own distrust and hatred for one another to defeat a deadly foe — an unlike enemy, a legend — a towered beast known as the WHITE DEVIL that seems immortal. A must-read, for sure!

Get your copy from Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/1917054645.