Mystery

Starman
The chat between our chief packer and Sergeant Merrick ceased instantly as I came forward and passed them on the way to look over the herd guard of the little battalion, but it set me to thinking. This was not the first that the officers of the Sandy garrison had heard of those two new "ranches" established within the year down in the hot but fertile valley, and not more than four hours' easy gallop from Fort Phoenix, where a couple of troops of "Ours" were stationed. The people who had so confidently planted themselves there were evidently well to do, and they brought with them a good-sized retinue of ranch- and herdsmen,--mainly Mexicans,--plenty of "stock," and a complete "camp outfit," which served them well until they could raise the adobe walls and finish their homesteads. Curiosity led occasional parties of officers or enlisted men to spend a day in saddle and thus to visit these enterprising neighbors. Such parties were always civilly received, invited to dismount, and soon to take a bite of luncheon with the proprietors, while their horses were promptly led away, unsaddled, rubbed down, and at the proper time fed and watered. The officers, of course, had introduced themselves and proffered the hospitality and assistance of the fort. The proprietors had expressed all proper appreciation, and declared that if anything should happen to be needed they would be sure to call; but they were too busy, they explained, to make social visits. They were hard at work, as the gentlemen could see, getting up their houses and their corrals, for, as one of them expressed it, "We've come to stay." There were three of these pioneers; two of them, brothers evidently, gave the name of Crocker. The third, a tall, swarthy, all-over-frontiersman, was introduced by the others as Mr. Burnham. Subsequent investigations led to the fact that Burnham was first cousin to the Crockers. "Been long in Arizona?" had been asked, and the elder Crocker promptly replied, "No, only a year,--mostly prospecting." The Crockers were building down towards the stream; but Burnham, from some freak which he did not explain, had driven his stakes and was slowly getting up his walls half a mile south of the other homestead, and high up on a spur of foot-hill that stood at least three hundred feet above the general level of the valley. From his "coigne of vantage" the whitewashed walls and the bright colors of the flag of the fort could be dimly made out,--twenty odd miles down stream. "Every now and then," said Captain Wayne, who happened up our way on a general court, "a bull-train--a small one--went past the fort on its way up to the ranches, carrying lumber and all manner of supplies, but they never stopped and camped near the post either going or coming, as other trains were sure to do. They never seemed to want anything, even at the sutler's store, though the Lord knows there wasn't much there they _could_ want except tanglefoot and tobacco. The bull-train made perhaps six trips in as many months, and by that time the glasses at the fort could make out that Burnham's place was all finished, but never once had either of the three proprietors put in an appearance, as invited, which was considered not only extraordinary but unneighborly, and everybody quit riding out there." "But the funniest thing," said Wayne, "happened one night when I was officer of the day. The road up-stream ran within a hundred yards of the post of the sentry on No. 3, which post was back of the officer's quarters, and a quarter of a mile above the stables, corrals, etc. I was making the rounds about one o'clock in the morning. The night was bright and clear, though the moon was low, and I came upon Dexter, one of the sharpest men in my troop, as the sentry on No. 3. After I had given him the countersign and was about going on,--for there was no use in asking _him_ if he knew his orders,--he stopped me to ask if I had authorized the stable-sergeant to let out one of the ambulances within the hour. Of course I was amazed and said no. 'Well,' said he, 'not ten minutes ago a four-mule ambulance drove up the road yonder going full tilt, and I thought something was wrong, but it was far beyond my challenge limit.' You can understand that I went to the stables on the jump, ready to scalp the sentry there, the sergeant of the guard, and everybody else. I sailed into the sentry first and he was utterly astonished; he swore that every horse, mule, and wagon was in its proper place. I routed out the old stable-sergeant and we went through everything with his lantern. There wasn't a spoke or a hoof missing. Then I went back to Dexter and asked him what he'd been drinking, and he seemed much hurt. I told him every wheel at the fort was in its proper rut and that nothing could have gone out. Neither could there have been a four-mule ambulance from elsewhere. There wasn't a civilized corral within fifty miles except those new ranches up the valley, and _they_ had no such rig. All the same, Dexter stuck to his story, and it ended in our getting a lantern and going down to the road. By Gad! he was right. There, in the moist, yielding sand, were the fresh tracks of a four-mule team and a Concord wagon or something of the same sort. So much for _that_ night!
By ranjit4 years ago in Fiction
The Woman And Her Boss' Secret
Chapter 2: Bonding. *Huff, huff*," HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!” Kitana screamed as she was running in darkness from something that seemed to like toying with her. No matter how far or long she ran it seemed like whatever was chasing her was always a few inches behind her just by seeing the glowing hazel eyes. “No matter where you run or hide you’ll always be mine, I’ll always find you, and you can’t escape from me”, said whatever kept chasing her. She finally came to an area where she saw an exit. She changed direction and started running towards the exit, but before she could reach it she was grabbed by the person or thing that was chasing her. Whatever caught her finally revealed itself to her to be Shawn, her boss. The difference was he had black horns on the side of his head and black wings to match with it. His hazel eyes glowed in the dark and they looked more menacing than the usual warm glow it gave. One look in his eyes and she was instantly paralyzed. He slowly inched his face towards hers for a kiss, but Kitana was awoken by the sound of her alarm clock going off, and she woke up covered in sweat. She threw the covers off herself and turned her alarm off. “What kind of dream or nightmare was that? And why did it have to be about my boss of all people” she said as she got out of bed to get ready for another workday. She was really nervous about going to work today after what happened in the shower last night and the dream or nightmare she just had. Kitana slowly got herself dressed and got into her car to go to work. As she approached the front doors of the office, coincidently her boss appeared at the same time right behind her. “Good Morning Kitana”, he said, greeting her with the same smile as usual except it felt different considering what she’s been through the night before. Kitana awkwardly shifted her gaze elsewhere, “Good Morning Mr.-”, she said as she was interrupted by him saying, “no need to be so formal, you can call me Shawn”. With that, she repeated what she was saying earlier, “Good Morning, Shawn”. He once again smiled at her and Kitana couldn’t help but smile back and they both proceeded into the office building. They parted ways as he went to his office and she to her cubicle. A few minutes into her work and she was already zoning out. This is just so awkward, Kitana thought to herself as she stared off into space for a few moments recounting the previous night's events. “Hello, earth to Kitana, do you not hear me talking to you?” Jessica said as she was trying to get her attention. “Sorry Jess, I didn’t sleep very well last night”, she apologized to her as she finally snapped out of it and turned towards her friend. “It does look like you didn’t sleep at all last night. What exactly kept you awake?” she asked with concern and curiosity. Kitana blushed profusely when asked that question. She turned around to hide her blushing face, “nothing, I just had a bad dream is all”. “From the look on your face, it doesn’t sound like it was a bad dream at all”. Jessica said to her with raised eyebrows. “Okay, Kitana are you seeing someone you haven’t told me about”. “No, I’m not seeing anyone, it was just a dream about someone I least expected to appear in my dreams”, Kitana said, still blushing a little. “Please don’t tell me it was your ex”, Jessica said with an annoyed tone in her voice. “Heavens no, he’s been evicted from my brain since I finally got over him. The person in my dreams just happened to be-”, Kitana was interrupted as Shawn approached her. “Hey Kitana, did you submit your last report from yesterday?” he asked and pierced her eyes with the same look she saw last night while taking a shower. Kitana blushed a little and realized she didn’t, “Oh no, I totally forgot, I’ll get it to you right away”. He smiled at her and gazed a little longer than usual and said “Thank you, Kitana” as he walked away. Jessica watched him walk away and looked back at Kitana. “Oh my gosh, our boss likes you”, Jessica exclaimed as she saw how he was looking at her and he didn’t dare hide it. “Not only that missy, you like him too”. “No I don’t”, I snapped and stuttered back at her as I turned around with my obviously blushing face. “Kitana, you're a terrible liar, plus your facial expression and stuttering just gave you away”, she said with her hands on her hips. Kitana looked away as she knew she couldn’t hide it from her. “It’s not that I like him nor do I not like him, he was the one that was in my dreams last night but it was like they were real”. “More like you were hoping they were real”, Jesica said as she teased her for it. “I don’t know Jess, I think there’s something about him that isn’t right,” Kitana said as she looked off to where Shawn’s office was as she stared at him and he looked up to see her looking at him. She quickly looked away and back at Jessica as she looked at her with a suspicious expression on her face. “You two don’t have something going on do you?” she asked. “I promise you nothing is going on between us, but that hallucination and dream felt so real.” “What a minute, did you just say hallucination? And what exactly type of hallucination was it? Are you on drugs, Kitana?” Jessica asked. “No, I’m not on drugs and as far as the details of the hallucination I’m not at liberty to say”, Kitana told her as she looked away and examined her computer screen. “Okay Kitana I’m going to take your word for it but I have a feeling Mr. Boss man likes you and you like him too. I advise you to be careful, not just because of company rules, but also because of his other fangirls who will make your life a living hell if they find out”. “They’re the least of my worries”, Kitana said as she turned back to her computer and continued her work.
By Alicia Metcalf4 years ago in Fiction
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Is Best Rewatched in Timeline Order #marvel #spider
Each time another For best results, uploadMarvel film - and presently Marvel TV show - debuts, the idea flies into your brain: "Imagine a scenario in which I watched the whole MCU in course of events request?" Even assuming you simply have a passing interest in superheroes, you've mulled over everything. The idea might be temporary, perhaps to a greater extent a theoretical as opposed to anything you'd really plan to do, however there's an allure there. It seems more like a test than your normal film long distance race. As of this moment, the MCU comprises of 27 element films, 5 short movies (or One-Shots), and 36 episodes across 5 TV programs (indeed, only 5 TV shows). That is 5,238 minutes of content. You could gorge every one of the 121 episodes of Lost in a similar time it would take to gorge all of the MCU. Watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe in course of events request is a responsibility… and absolutely worth the effort.
By Vijay PRAJAPATi4 years ago in Fiction
Inspection
The Conversation Mahm: Check this out. Dad wants to go look at it. Listed as possibly haunted…. Lorel: FUCK YES Lorel: Haven’t even looked yet
By Erika Savage4 years ago in Fiction
American Epidemic
The street lamps dimly flickered as the rain came down harshly striking the side walk. The light from inside the restaurant barely cast a beam into the dark and monochromatic world outside. The steam rising from the manhole covers the only detectable heat. The taillights that passed looking as if they were oil paints running down a canvas.
By Matthew Horton4 years ago in Fiction
With or Without
Clarisse was in her towel, brushing her teeth at the bathroom sink, not even having brought her pyjamas from her room to get changed into.
By Caitlin Swan4 years ago in Fiction
24 Hour Laundry Mat
“In the case of baby Alana; Jerome, you…are NOT the father!” Maury Povich’s voice rang out over the rhythmic whoosh of the commercial dryers. His face obscured by a thick black swipe of dead pixels on the small flat screen TV perched on a makeshift shelf and chained to the wall. A stain on the ceiling the shape of Russia loomed ominous above it.
By Rynn Vogel4 years ago in Fiction
Forest of Musical Owls
A raspy spluttering emits from a young child's lips, floating air in random waves lap the flute’s mouthpiece – tide motions slowly inwards, determinedly crashing back outwards. The determined silvery sonic hiss interrupts the space usually reserved for intermittent tired old routine dinner chatter, and filtered background sounds through the living room television.
By Shayley Blair4 years ago in Fiction
His First Day
He rounded the corner to his destination when the sky began pelting down rain. "Just my luck," he thought. Fifteen blocks without so much as a sprinkle, then that. First impressions were important to him, and showing up soaking wet on the first day of his new job was not the one he wanted to make.
By Amanda Vining4 years ago in Fiction
Risk, Rhetoric, and Reward
“All respective parties, friends and naysayers alike, favoring full expansion of the rails, may a show of hands in support be too many for our enemies to count?” Soledad exclaims before a small crowd of onlookers. Senior industrialist have convened in the woods of the State of Queen Estate in order to mark the inception of the “industrialist charge” by which the railroad shall commence expansion southwestward. Doing so, shall connect the three Industrialist states of Marlboro Sound, Primrose, and Oppoquan with the natural resource rich locales of Kapital, and the all important marine town Port of Folio, to the growing dismay of the Agrarian syndicate of Governors’.
By Tafa Nyang4 years ago in Fiction
Huckleby Farm
I was rudely awakened by the early morning sunshine as it easily penetrated the thinness of my eyelids, but not before the bright rays were incorporated into my dream...
By Lamar Wiggins4 years ago in Fiction
The Protector Owl
Sleeping is not my strong suit–never has been. It always seems that when the day goes to rest, my thoughts are just waking up. They slither from their resting place–wherever that might be–and they begin to gnaw at me. They are relentless, making for ever-restless nights. What’s more, is that when I finally do fall into a deep enough slumber, I dream. And I dream hard. My dreams are often so vivid and visceral that they bleed into reality. More often than not, when I wake, my first order of business is to spend the first several moments of the day sorting between what is real, and what may have been a dream.
By Ashanti Pettaway4 years ago in Fiction