THE SCARLET DEVIL

The doors of the tavern slam the back of the front wall, and a man in a black trench coat enters with his posse. The patrons, however, do not cease their banter, and the pianist continues to ride the keys to his heart's content. The man in black smirks as he removes his wide wet hat, putting a hand on his belt buckle and strutting on in to find a seat.

A group of women sitting at a booth by the wall start to giggle and whisper among themselves. "He looks fun!" "Ain't that Blackdog?" "You think they'll buy us drinks?" "Shhhh! Here they come!"

The man in black, 'Blackdog', approaches the women with his crew. "G'd'evenin', ladies. Y'all wouldn't happen to be in need of some more company, now would y'all?"

"Hmmm... We were getting rather thirsty..."

"It ain't no problem, ladies." Blackdog snapped his finger and gestured toward the counter without taking his eyes off the women. "Billy. Booze."

One of the men that came in behind Blackdog quit staring at one of the woman's breasts long enough to realize what Blackdog said. "Sure thing, Kel-- uh, sure thing boss."

While Billy struggled to count his pocket coinage at the counter, Blackdog and his boys sat down in the booth with the women, getting very close.

"So, got any stories?" One of the women asked, "Every new face blows in here got a story to tell."

Blackdog laughed. "Awright. But this here aint no story, this happened. Me and my boys here just came from Nortem. Lotta nasty fellas in Nortem."

The woman in the yellow dress was visibly interested once the town of Nortem was mentioned.

"Some of em was given a group of women much like yerselves lotta trouble. Gave 'em a fair warnin': Leave town, or else. Them poor bastards thought I was jokin'. I draw——" Blackdog drew his revolver at the table with the barrel upward, "an' just like that they dun drop like flies."

"All by yourself?" The red haired woman's face was beaming.

"Yes ma'am. An' all but one of 'em had a bounty." Blackdog reached into his coat and tossed a sack of coins onto the table, many spilling and rolling out onto the table. The women giggled and and the woman in the yellow dress excitedly clapped. "'Course, that ain't quite the end of it. The one who didn't have a bounty, the one who got away... I reckoned he couldn't have been innocent either. An' me and the boys sweeped the town til we found out he was workin at a farm just outside town."

The excited expression on the woman in yellow began to fade.

"Followed him back, an' sure enough, the whole place was this whorin' scheme by the folks there. Think they were called the Johnsons. Now I'm a man who believes in justice, so we freed those women and burned the whole place down. And wouldn't you know it, the women were so grateful, they left us with a parting gift." Blackdog reached into the other side of his coat, and more carefully than the previous sack of coins, opened and set down a sack of jewels.

Though she didn't say anything, the woman in yellow was horrified. The other women just awed at the jewels. Blackdog put the sack away back into his coat, noticing the woman in yellow's change in expressions. "No need to feel bad for 'em, darlin', they were bad people an' we took care of 'em. I reckon even this town's safer now."

Billy, nearly tripping several times on the way back to the table, arrived with plenty of booze. They all drank except for the woman in yellow.

"Aw, c'mon now, darlin'. I know what'd make you feel better." Blackdog went to move closer to the woman in yellow, but the red haired woman put her arms around him.

"Now why make the effort on a gal who's ruinin' all the fun?" As the red haired woman said this, nobody, not even Blackdog, noticed her reach into his coat and snatch the sack of jewels.

Blackdog laughed. "Now we're talkin." He set his revolver on the table and put his arm around the red haired woman.

"Boys, would y'all mind getting some more drinks? I reckon we'll all be here a while. Let's get comfortable." The red haired woman winked at Blackdog's posse. They grinned ear to ear and got up.

Blackdog looked back at the red haired woman with a dirty grin of his own, but before he could get a word out... There were four distinct clicks beneath the table. Feeling a long, hard, cold piece of steel against his manhood, Blackdog slowly looked down. The red haired woman was holding a colt to him, playfully tapping the cylinder with her finger.

"What the hell you doin', girl?" Blackdog whispered.

"Tell yer boys you're packin' up. Get the fuck out this town before sunrise. If your story had any inklin' of truth to it, you'd know I ain't playin'. Oh, and I'll be keepin' these." She playfully showed off the sack of jewels she'd snatched earlier.

Blackdog looked to the other women at the booth out of desperation, but they seemed indifferent to the current situation. The woman in green sipped her drink with a smug look on her face. "Get 'im, Ruby."

"Ruby?" Blackdog, trying to not make sudden movements, looked the red haired woman up and down through the corner of his eye. "The Scarlet Devil? Wait... This bitch ain't no bitch!"

"First time with a man? I'll be gentle." Ruby pressed his revolver harder, making Blackdog grit his teeth.

"Awright. Bastard... Lemme go, I'll round my boys. Some fuckin' welcoming party..."

Ruby slowly pulled back his revolver, keeping it pointed at Blackdog, but concealing it with his dress. Everyone at the booth watched Blackdog slowly make his way to the counter, talking to his posse. They looked confused and a bit upset, but after seeing Blackdog wasn't in the mood, they all left.

After a moment of silence at the booth, four clicks were heard again as Ruby gently uncocked the hammer, and he and the women started silently squealing in excitement.

"Where have you been all my life?" The woman in green laughed.

The woman in blue was already taking a celebratory swig. "I'll say!"

Ruby noticed the woman in yellow was starting to cry, and he realized she wasn't just putting on a display for Blackdog. "Hey, you ok?"

"M-My folks..."

The other three were concerened but at a loss.

Ruby looked around one more time to make sure Blackdog really did leave the tavern, then looked back to the woman in yellow. "Abby... What's your last name?"

"Johnson..." She buried her face into her hands and the other two women held her.

Ruby looked down at the table and thought for a bit. He stood up, turned to say something to the women, but couldn't find the words. As if he'd done this countless times before, he set the sack of jewels down in front of Abby and left tavern without a word... piece in hand.

"Hey Devil!"

As soon as Ruby's boot stepped off the wood and into the sand, Blackdog called out, waiting across the street. His men were posted up nearby beside their cart and horses, and they were all staring at Ruby.

"You don't fuck with the likes of me." He pulled his coat back to reveal his revolver nestled back into its holster. "Why don't we settle this like men?"

Ruby looked both ways down the street. It was completely empty. Ruby looked back to Blackdog and nodded. He reached down and ripped his dress, revealing his own thigh-strapped holster on his right leg, which he slid his colt down into after giving it a quick spin. As if to blind Blackdog even further with rage, Ruby then put his left hand on his hip, giving off a calm and carefree aura despite the situation.

Sure enough, Blackdog was once again gritting his teeth. The two stood staring at each other under the moonlight for what felt like an eternity. There were no clouds that night. No wind. Even the horses stood absolutely still.

And then a floorboard creaked.

Before Blackdog could even draw his gun, he was already on the ground, blood in the sand. His men were completely dumbfounded, as Ruby hadn't even drawn his own gun yet... Until they noticed a hole in the left side of his dress with smoke coming out. The men drew their own guns, and this time, Ruby properly drew his right hand colt and shot them all down. Unlike Blackdog, Ruby left his men alive.

Off to the side, Billy stood, unscathed. He hadn't even drawn his gun. He looked around, and at Blackdog... And then back to Ruby. "You killed my brother."

Hammer cocked and finger on the trigger, Ruby was ready to shoot Billy too...

"Thank you." Billy gave one last look to Blackdog. His look of confusion turned into a small smile. "I'm free." he whispered to himself. He slowly removed his gun from his holster and tossed it into the sand. Ruby uncocked and hosltered his own guns. Billy then untied one of the horses and hopped on.

One of Blackdog's men coughed up. "Billy— you sunova bitch—— the hell you mean you're free?! We were all you had! You're nothin' without Keller! Where will you go? Ain't nobody want you!"

Billy looked away towards the edge of the town and thought for a moment, before looking back at the man. "That ain't your problem no more, Dee." He turned the horse around and rode out of town. The man on the ground shook his head and leaned back, defeated.

After watching Billy ride off, Ruby took a look at Blackdog's wagon. There were much bigger sacks inside...

Back at the booth inside the tavern, the three women were discussing the legitimacy of the jewels and what Abby would do now that her folks were gone. Their conversing was interrupted by a couple of sacks being dropped on the table. They spilled open, revealing a plethora of stolen goods. Ruby stood at the end of the table. The women looked at him and the goods in shock, waiting for him to say something. But he couldn't. He'd come to this town for a cheap thrill and a quick buck, but all he got was blood in the sand.

He smiled, and without another word, left the tavern for the last time. It wasn't the adventure he'd hoped for, and he was once again right back to zero dollars, but two people were helped tonight, and that meant more to Ruby than some jewels. Maybe next time.

He cut one of Blackdog's horses loose, and without looking back, left town.

"Later, gator."

Back outside the tavern, one of Blackdog's men, 'Dee', sat back up, bloodied wound in hand. "Mark my words, red bastard..." He picked up Blackdog's hat and put it on. "You don't know who you're fuckin' with."

THE SCARLET DEVIL // RUBY WILD

While I can't promise anything major released this year, I hope you enjoyed this short story and art to give you a taste of my new comic series :)

© Matthew Perez 2023