The horseman - part 4

I lost his trail amidst a maze of dismal pine-choked gorges etched into the mountains. The woman’s cabin was in a rare clearing, completely overrun with a creeper that had gone crazy with the light, dripping off every branch and overhang.

When I stumbled in, storm-drenched and relapsing into delirium, she put aside her fear of strangers and tended to me. She told me about the men who had caught her alone in the forest and what they did to her.

‘Please stay!’ She was standing between the door and me, her eyes tearful and imploring. ‘I’m so afraid they’ll come back.’

I shook my head sadly. She was just a ghost; I was so used to seeing them everywhere that it was hard to distinguish between living and dead. I found her body a little way up the hill and gave it a decent burial; it was the least I could do. As I left, the morning mists seemed to whisper her thanks.

It was not difficult to track down the men responsible and I left them to rot where they fell. If their ghosts choose to come after me then so be it. I’ve a more important quarry.