Kid Colt Outlaw #6
The Valley of the Werewolf!
Kid Colt decides to hide out in the town of New Turkey, a recent village set up by Turkish immigrants, in order to hide out from the law in the hopes that the news of his outlaw status has not reached the area. Riding through the forest he hears a man scream and rides to it's source, finding a dead man who has had his throat torn out by a wolf of some kind. Kid Colt recovers the body and rides it into town. There he is greeted by a hunted named Wolf and some locals who believe that this man -- one of many -- was killed by a werewolf that they believe is stalking the area. When Kid Colt writes this off as superstition, Wolf tries to start a fight with him when suddenly one of the locals spots Ilona Nadares' wolf-dog with blood on it's muzzle and accuses it of being the werewolf. The locals gather into a mob to kill the dog and it's owner.
Seeing this as trouble, Kid Colt mounts up to head them off and stop them from doing anything foolish when he is confronted by another local named Jan Striker who hires him to solve the problem. Kid Colt takes the job and rides out to Ilona's cabin where he gets between the mob and Ilona and tries to talk sense into the locals. When Wolf tries to stir them up again, the Kid fights him and quickly defeats the trapper. This dissipates the mob, who carries Wolf away. Jan reappears and suggests that Wolf might be the one responsible for the attacks and suggests that the Kid investigate his cabin.
When Kid Colt goes up near the cabin to investigate, Wolf get the drop on him and clubs him over the head, knocking the hero out. The Kid is then revived by Ilona's dog and suddenly hears her cries for help. Rushing to the sound of her voice, finds a man trying to attack her but it is too dark to see who he is. The Kid shoots sending the man fleeing. As he is checking to see if Ilona is okay, they are one more met by Jan Striker who informs them that another local was killed by the supposed werewolf. The Kid tells Jan to take Ilona home while he investigates things.
Kid Colt once more goes to Wolf's cabin and breaks inside. There he is confronted by Wolf, but easily knocks him out. Searching the cabin he finds a trap door where a savage wolf lives in the basement. Searching around the cabin some more, Kid Colt finds wolf lure, and realizes that Wolf had been pouring it on the throats of the "werewolf" victims and setting the wolf out to get them. Kid Colt then douses Wolf with the lure and waits for him to revive. When Wolf comes around, the Kid demands that Wolf explain what his plan is or be left for his wolf to eat. Before the Kid can make true his threat, Jan suddenly enters and gets Kid Colt at gunpoint.
Jan and Wolf explain that they found oil in New Turkey and are trying to drive people away from the land so that they can claim it for themselves. They then douse Kid Colt's throat with wolf lure and force him out into the woods, unleashing the wolf to go after him. However before the wolf can attack, Ilona's dog dives into it's path, knocking it into the trampling hoofs of Steel, who tramples the wolf to death. Kid Colt thanks Ilona for the rescue and tells her to go back to her cabin. He then rides back to Wolf's cabin and shoots both Wolf and Jan dead. Kid Colt then returns to Ilona and explains the whole plot before leaving New Turkey to resume his travels.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt
Steel
Trapped in the Hidden Mine!
Kid Colt rides into the town of Chaneyville, a town where outlaws hide out to stay safe from the law. Walking into a local saloon he bumps into another man who tries to start a fight. However, the Kid is a faster draw and shoots him dead. Kid Colt is then approached by a local named Snake Sorenson who is impressed by the Kid's gunslinging skills and invites him into the saloon for a drink. When Sorenson learns who Kid Colt is, he offers him instant membership in his gang. After some drinks, Kid Colt decides to retire for the night and Sorenson tells him to meet the next day to discuss why his gang is hiding out in the area. However, Kid Colt has no intention of sleeping and when things quiet down that night, he quietly rides out of town. However, just out of town he is ambushed by a man with a rifle.
Kid Colt easily downs the man and demands to know why he is being shot at. The man introduces himself as Chris Durbin, he explains that Snake Sorenson kidnapped his daughter so that he would reveal the location of his mine. The only problem is that Durbin does not remember where its located as a mishap with dynamite sealed off the mine entrance and scrambled his memory if its location. This, however, did not stop Snake from kidnapping his daughter and holding her ransom for the mines location. Kid Colt agrees to help Chris Durin rescue his daughter and rides back into Chaneyville.
He meets with Snake at the saloon and Sorensen takes him inside to meet two more men who are joining up with their crew. Kid Colt decides to use this opportunity to try and break up Sorensen's gang, and acts as though the two new men insulted him and "avenges" the disrespect by gunning them down. When a third outlaw tries to shoot Kid Colt in the back, another gunslinger named Stan Greville shoots the man dead, saving the Kid's life. After introductions, Snake takes Kid Colt upstairs, confiding in the fact that he does not trust Greville. They walk past the room where Sylvia Durbin is being kept captive and go to Snake's office. There Snake's men have left him what he suspected all along: evidence that Stan Greville is really an undercover US Marshall. Having searched the man's saddle they found warrants for the arrest of Sorensen's gang and Kid Colt.
When Sorensen rushes down to shoot Greville dead, Kid Colt "accidentally" slips, throwing off Snake's aim so he only wounds Stan. Stan manages to get get to his horse and blaze out of town, but Sorensen gathers a posse (including Kid Colt) and sends them out to hunt down Greville and kill him. Riding out on his own, Kid Colt stumbles into the sight of Stan's rifle aim, but Chris Durbin, who is working with Greville tells him to stand down. Kid Colt tells Greville and Durbin to hide out while he goes back to town and rescues Sylvia. Kid Colt knocks out the guard and grabs Sylvia. However, when they get to the outside of the saloon it's just as Snake and his men are returning from their hunt. Pinned down, Kid Colt starts gunning down the men when Sylvia's guard revives and tosses a stick of dynamite at them.
The pair roll away and the blast blows a hole open in the floor, coincidentally enough opening an entrance to the lost Durbin mine. They duck down into the hole and find more dynamite. When Snake and his men come bursting in looking for them, Kid Colt tosses a stick up at them, the resulting explosion kills the entire gang. When Kid Colt returns Sylvia to her father, he also hands over the warrants to Stan Greville. Greville tears up Kid Colt's warrant and allows him to go free.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt
Steel
The Things in the Cave!
Tex Taylor and Alkali Ike are relaxing near the train station. Tex reads a story about some men who held up a train and stole $50,000 in Fargo City who are on the loose. Just then a train rolls in and an explorer named Professor Jenkins who is looking for nearby Mayan Ruins. Ike knows the area and the Native Americans call it "The Adobe of the Clawed Devils" because of legends of creatures with claws that come out of the ground like moles.
They soon arrive at the site of the Mayan temple and Ike warns that the area is unstable and could be subject to a rockslide if they are not careful. However, Jenkins is eager to get up to the abandoned temple even though it'll be dark soon. When Tex and Ike try to follow Jenkins pulls a gun on them and threatens to shoot them if they don't stay away. Tex easily disarm, and soon after they hear what sounds like hammering coming from the ruins. They go in to investigate and follow the sound to a slab of stone which they quickly move out of the way and find a secret passage. They find Professor Correl and his daughter Mavis who were trapped in the passage. The professor is out cold and Mavis explains that she and her father were exploring the cavern. When her father didn't return she went after him and found him like he is and was trapped in the tunnel.
The Professor revives and tells Jenkins that he found the Mayan god-idol and. Jenkins admits to following them, seeking to capitalize on the idol instead of having it put in a museum. He then pulls out another gun and grabs Mavis and uses her as a hostage to force the others to lead him to the idol. Not wishing Mavis to be harmed, Tex and the others agree to help. However, as they go deeper into the temple they are warned by people inside that they have detected the intruders and they will die. They are soon attacked by white men dressed in Mayan clothing. Tex and Ike fight back, gunning down two of the men and capturing a third. Tex forces him to confess that they are really the men who robbed the train in Fargo City, and that they were hiding out in the temple, and put on the ancient Mayan clothing in order to scare away anyone who might come snooping around.
Suddenly the lamps go out and Jenkins tries to shoot Tex, but Tex is a faster draw and shoots him dead. Hearing something inhuman moving around in the temple, Tex covers the others as they flee out of the temple in the darkness. They rush out just as an avalanche begins and they run to cover as the temple is buried for all time. With the idol lost forever, the Correl's leave on the next train out. When Tex is convinced that the "mole people" were nothing more than outlaws in disguise, Ike makes that questionable when he shows him what he pulled off Tex's shirt as they were escaping the temple earlier: A long claw like object that neither of them can explain.
Recurring Characters
Tex Taylor
Alkelai Ike
Fury
Jenny
