At the end of a bloody trail, Johnny Redd finds an incredible secret. While struggling with a bullet in his chest, he crawls along the ground until he finds himself surrounded by a maze of quaint carnival tarps. Inside is a world of color, costumes, false hair, nails, eyelashes -- and a man who dresses like a woman. It’s a world of trickery, deception, and lies. Johnny makes it just inside the tent when his strength fails and he faints dead away. When he awakes, he’s reminded of the bizarre reality that surrounds him. It’s that he learns he has been taken care of by a man – er. woman -- by the name of Frenchy Starr. The name rolls from the tongue of this fallen angel, this princess of darkness, this twilight queen. She’s a mystery, a dangerously beautiful mystery, and Johnny slowly becomes ensnared in the trap which she sets. After one night of incredible love, a jealous fan shoots Frenchy. Thinking her dead, Johnny’s heart is broken and he leaves in search of something to fill the hole she left in his heart. Enter Kit Dalton.

Carnival Cowboy

You don’t have to play the bad man, Johnny, you are the bad man.


“Oh, my God, you’re right. I can’t believe I missed that.”


Kit turned, and had already mounted his horse when he waved, and said, “Thanks, Cal. You’ve been a big help. I’ll let you know how it goes.”


“Don’t bother. I’ll probably be able to tell by the silly smile on your face.”


By that time Kit was already riding down that dusty, dirty road toward town, knowing he might be walking into a bad situation. But he didn’t care. After all, when it came to Johnny’s life, he’d gladly take a bullet for him—and had. 5


When Kit rode into town, he was thinking about how Johnny would feel about what he had to tell him, and happened to look over at the sheriff’s office where he caught sight of a paper flapping in the wind. Since it was next door to the Rough Rider Saloon, he tied up his horse, walked over and looked at it.


Chapter 10