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

Johnny jumped up, and was right on his heels when he went through the swinging doors. “A wanted poster?”


“I thought that would get your blood to boiling.” Kit pointed at it.


Johnny turned and looked, seeing it flapping in the breeze. He couldn’t believe it. He ran toward it, read every word, and then with a quick movement tore it off the crude bulletin board that hung outside the sheriff’s office.


“Johnny!” Kit yelled. “You can’t remove that. If you do, they’ll know it was Johnny Redd that ripped it off, and come looking for you.”


“But I can’t leave it up there. I’ll be recognized.”


Grabbing the poster out of Johnny’s hand and tacking it back up, Kit said, “Just sneak out of town tonight. It’s late. No one will see you leave.”


“I just sold my fuckin’ horse because I didn’t have any money. What’ll I do now?”


Kit stood there for a moment thinking. Finally, he said, “Okay, come with me.”


Chapter 11