Their search for the Red Ghost was as fruitless as it was the day before. Mr. Reeves performed the Perkunos Operation to keep their ghostly carriage solid enough to not drop several yards above Eagle Creek. Matthew performed the Aldi Operation to track the Red Ghost until the ghost felt their approach and teleported away, at which time Joseph would use the noise box to lead Whistle in a new direction.

Martin felt a little useless, and wished he was back at the station picking bird peppers in the wilderness. To relieve the tedium of the search, Mr. Reeves would sometimes sing a song.

It was a comfortable, albeit frustrating, hunt.

When the manesologists suddenly spotted a body lying on the ground, the shock disrupted the steady tedium of their search and made them feel as if they had been shaken out of a dream.

This time they were sure it wasn’t a bear. It was a man, and a whole one at that. Fortunately, he was not lying in a red spot, but he was lying face down, on his belly, and the ground around him was upturned and disturbed in such a way to suggest that he had been dragged through the dirt a long, long way.

“Oh God…” Martin muttered as the body came into sharp focus as Matthew lowered the carriage with the Ozien Operation. ‘He looks dead!”

“No.” Joseph said. “He can’t be dead. He’s not torn apart like the woman and the bear.”

As the carriage landed, Mr. Reeves drew his gaeite lantern, gaeite core locked inside, fresh bullets loaded.

“What the hell do you need that for?” Joseph asked.

"In case this is an ambush.” Mr. Reeves answered.

The Englishmen stared at him.

“I told you gentlemen, this isn’t Blackwall. This is hard territory. I’m not going to shoot him, not unless he flips over and aims a gun at us first.”

“You really think that could happen?” Martin asked.

“It’s happened to me before. And shoot, it’s not like I’m the only one with a target on my back. Quite a few people want you three dead, and some of them even have special powers.”

“Yes, but that’s neither here nor there.” Joseph said. He nudged the door of the carriage with his large fingertips and it flew open. “Let’s not let the man die while we stand around wondering who he is.”

The three Englishmen rushed to the man’s side as Mr. Reeves covered them from a distance. He aimed his gun, but he kept his finger away from the trigger.

“Easy, boy, easy.” Joseph said as he helped the man to his feet. “Can you stand?”

“Yeah. I’m alright.” The man gently brushed Joseph’s hands aside. “Thank you kindly, but I’m just bruised, not broken.” he looked Joseph up and down. “Lord, you’re a big feller!”

“I’m English.” Joseph said.

“English, huh? What’s an Englishman doing out in Arizona territory?”

“Hunting what I think you just had a nasty run-in with.”

“Well, best of luck to you. That red devil, he’s got the temper of Satan himself, and he pulls like a goddamn steam train.”

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The man extended his hand. “Name’s Silas Johnson.”

Joseph shook his hand.

“Whew!’ Silas withdrew his hand and shook it like a glove. “Feels like I just shook hands with a grizzly bear!”

“Thank you.” Joseph said. “Mr. Johnson, my name is Dr. Joseph Morton. My associates are fellow Englishmen Dr. Matthew Ernst, on my right, and Dr. Martin Glass, on my left.”

Silas made a face as he saw Mr. Reeves.

“Who’s that nigger aiming a gun at me?” Silas asked.

Mr. Reeves holstered his gaeite lantern. ‘Bass Reeves. Deputy Marshal and member of the American Manesological Society.”

Silas looked at the Englishmen. “He for real?”

“You mean you’ve never heard of Bass Reeves?” Joseph asked. “The legendary lawman?”

“No. But I never heard of Englishmen in Arizona looking for furry devils, either.”

“So the alert hasn’t reached you yet?” Matthew asked.

“What alert?” Silas asked.

“Then it hasn’t.” Matthew said.

Mr. Reeves knelt down and picked up something off the ground. “Red hair.” he said. ‘Mr. Johnson has indeed encountered the Red Ghost.”

“Red Ghost?” Silas asked. “That’s what that devil was called? What exactly is it? I’ve never seen anything like it, it was like a horse but it’s legs were long, and it’s neck was like a snake! It was shaggy, like a bear, and it pulled like a whole goddamn herd of cattle!”

“It pulled you?” Matthew asked.

“Yes sir, like nothing ever pulled me before!”

Silas looked past Mr. Reeves and saw Whistle and the light shining through his body and carriage.

“What in the blue hell is that?” Silas asked. “Is that a ghost?”

“Ghost horse.” Matthew said.

“There are goddamn ghost horses now?” Silas asked.

“There are such things as animal manes.” Matthew said. “In fact, we may be hunting one, though our current theory is that it's really a man’s manes in the shape of a monster.”

“You mean that devil…you mean that creature that I roped, that creature that dragged me God only knows how long through the dirt, that was a ghost? No way!”

“You roped the Red Ghost?” Matthew asked.

“If that’s what you call it, then yes, I roped the Red Ghost! But it wasn’t a ghost! It was solid, solid and strong!” Silas exclaimed.

“You make a common misconception.” Matthew said. “Manes can be as solid as a wall or as immaterial as the wind.”

“Are you serious?” Silas asked. “That’s how ghosts work?”

“That is how ghosts work.” Matthew said. “We should know, we’re manesologists.”

“I thought that was what the nigger said, but I...well, I didn’t think I heard him right.” Silas said. “God, this world has gone strange. Englishmen in Arizona. Solid, fuzzy ghosts that look like horses from out of a nightmare, and a nigger that’s a Deputy Marshal and a ghost man!” Silas turned to Mr. Reeves. “How the hell did that happen?”

“I speak several languages, most fluently the language of violence. It comes in great use in Indian territory.” Mr. Reeves answered.

“But aren’t niggers afraid of ghosts?”

“Not this one. But I’ve met a few that were afraid of me.” Mr. Reeves said.

“No fooling?” Silas asked.

“No fooling.” Mr. Reeves said.

“You’re very lucky to be alive.” Joseph said to Silas.

“I feel lucky to be alive!” Silas said. “The damn thing dragged me for miles!”

“You’re even luckier than you imagine.” Joseph said. “The Red Ghost has killed before. It stomped a woman into a puddle and eviscerated a grizzly bear.”

“A whole grizzly bear?” Silas asked.

“And tossed its parts around like sawdust. It spared you, Silas Johnson, and we need to know why. It may inform us as to the origin of the Red Ghost.”

“I believe you when you say the devil spared me. It had me on the dirt. It could have turned around and trampled over me in a flash. But for the life of me, sir, I can’t think of why it would spare me.”

“Tell us everything that has happened to you. How did you come across the Red Ghost?”

“Well, I was out with my horse, damn thing’s probably ran off to God only knows where by now, and I was just going down the creek, just to have a little ride, when I see the red devil, and at first i think he’s a horse distorted by the light, because the way it was built didn’t seem right, but then it got closer and I saw it was something real but no quite natural. And there was this white thing on the back, hunched over with a cloth over it, and I couldn’t quite tell what it was. So I think to myself, I have no idea what kind of creature this is, but someone tied something to its back, so it’s carrying something someone probably wants, so I take my rope and I lasso the devil. Then the damn thing goes wild! He pulls me like nothing ever pulled me before! He knocks me to the ground and he starts dragging me, but I hold on. Lord have mercy, if I didn’t have my gloves on, my hands would be bloody rags. Eventually, it was too much of a bumpy ride for me and I had to let go. Why the devil didn’t end me right there on the spot, I don’t know, Dr. Morton, I rightfully don’t know.”

Silas brushed at his pants. Dirt fell from his buckle to reveal a metal plate that read CSA.

“You were a Confederate?” Joseph asked.

“Just a Virginia infantryman. Decided to go west while I was young. I wanted to see the continent, you know?”

“I understand.” Joseph said. “England is a dreary, wet island. You could drop it several times in the American west and still have room for grand vistas the likes of which you see everyday.”