Kid Colt Outlaw #93
The Ghost of Midnight Mountain!
Kid Colt is approaching the town of Red Rock which is located at the base of Midnight Mountain. Suddenly, a gang of fleeing the town with guns blazing. The Kid is hit in the arm causing him to fall off his horse. The gang of men ignore him and keep on riding, the leader saying that the Kid shouldn’t have been in his way. Deducing that these are outlaws on the run from the law, KId Colt has Steel drag him to some nearby bushes for cover. Sure enough, the law comes riding up just as Kid Colt passes out from blood loss. Luckily, the sheriff spots Steel standing by the brush and goes to investigate.
When Kid Colt wakes up he discovers that his wound has been patched up and is in the Red Rock jail. The sheriff says he is under arrest because he thinks Kid Colt was the leader of the gang that has been robbing the banks in Red Rock. As an angry mob form outside the jail, Kid Colt professes his innocence but his words fall on deaf ears. As the mob tries to force their way in, the sheriff orders the prisoner moved and they quickly usher him out the back and flee the jail in a buckboard wagon. The whole time, Kid Colt continues to try and convince them that he is innocent. When reason fail, Kid Colt shoves the deputy off the wagon, grabbing his gun in the process. Then while training his gun on the sheriff he notices that Steel has been faithfully following him and leaps onto the horse’s back. He then takes off knowing the sheriff won’t chase him until after he goes back to make sure his deputy is okay.
Kid Colt decides that his only course of action is to go up Midnight Mountain. While traveling up the winding trail, Kid Colt can’t help but feel a chill as there is something strange about the mountain. Suddenly, Steel becomes frightened and sees a huge dark shadow coming toward them. Kid Colt quickly ducks his horse into a nearby cave. Once inside he hears a rumbling sound and is too late to stop a boulder from blocking the exit. That’s when a shrouded figure appears and tells Kid Colt that his bullets are useless. At first, Kid Colt thinks he is seeing a ghost and tries to make sense of what he’s seeing. Suddenly, he is blinded by a bright flash of light and the ghost has vanished. When he tries to push the boulder out of the way he finds that it won’t budge. That’s when the ghost returns with two more shrouded figures. Reason sets in and Kid Colt decides these can’t be ghost and attacks them. Sure enough, these are flesh and blood men, and as he fights he hears one of the ghosts call the other Caleb, the name of the man who shot him earlier. This makes the whole situation make sense as Kid Colt realizes that these are the gang of crooks who fled town.
Fleeing deeper into the cave, Kid Colt finds the other end of the tunnel is sealed. While he shoots at the “ghosts”, Kid Colt calls Steel to his side and has the horse push the bolder out of the way with his powerful hind legs. With the rock out of the way, Kid Colt finds nothing by a cliff so he climbs up on to of the bolder and waits for the outlaws to come after him. Kid Colt ambushes them from above but in the struggle, the Kid is knocked over the cliff. He manages to save himself from falling by grabbing a vine hanging from a rock outcropping. This still leaves him vulnerable and the crooks try to cut the vine but while Kid Colt struggles to stay alive something approaches the crooks scaring Caleb so badly he suddenly falls off the cliff. Climbing back up, Kid Colt discovers that something has frightened the other two outlaws to death. However, when he searches the scene he finds no trace of what could have frightened them so badly. Knowing the gunfire will have attracted the sheriff, Kid Colt leaves a note for him to find and flees the scene glad to put Midnight Mountain and whatever horrors that live there far behind him.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt, Steel
The Man Who Hated Kid Colt!
While riding on a stagecoach, Kid Colt is recognized by one of the passengers who draws a gun on him and orders the driver to stop. Remaining calm, Kid Colt tells the man to put the gun away. Kid Colt easily disarms the man but the struggle gets the attention of the driver who stops the coach to see what’s going on. Kid Colt admits who he is but points out that he paid for the coach and reminds everyone that he has no warrants out for his arrest in this state. The other passengers, an elderly passenger, and his daughter are frightened to be in the same coach as the notorious Kid Colt. However, the Kid assures them that he means them no harm. The coach driver is satisfied with this and tells them not to cause any more trouble for the rest of the trip.
Talbot, the man who tries pulling a gun on the Kid, is furious and continues to complain that they are riding with an outlaw. Kid Colt tells him to mind his business and tries to get some sleep. Talbot takes this as an opportunity to grab one of the Kid’s gun but the elderly passenger tries to stop him. The coach driver stops the coach again and Talbot continues protesting Kid Colt’s presence. That’s when the Kid notices a deputy coming their way. When Talbot tries to use this to scare Kid Colt away, the Kid insists that they should let the deputy get to them. Talbot then tries to fight the Kid, but Colt is a better fighter. When the deputy arrives, Kid Colt reveals that “Talbot” is actually Sam Cantrell an outlaw who has been robbing stagecoaches and that he was making big deal about Kid Colt being on the coach because he would have stopped him from robbing the others. With Cantrell in the deputy’s custody, the others apologize for judging Kid Colt based on his appearance. With the danger over, Kid Colt unhitches his horse from the coach and rides away.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt, Steel
