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 seem to be in such an all fired hurry.”


He looked at Kit. “What’s with this guy?” Looking back over at Johnny, he said, “The sooner the better, Johnny. It has to be tomorrow. Take it or leave it.”


“I’ll take care of that part of it. You just listen, and listen good. You’re about to learn something about your good friend Reno Stokes.”


“You’re wastin’ your time, sheriff. Reno ain’t about to do that.”


“Okay,” the sheriff said as he walked over to the wall and took down the circle of keys hanging from it, and then looked over at Johnny.


Johnny began backing away. “What are you doin’?”


“I’m going to lock you up, Johnny. And then I’m going to invite the whole population of Sligo in to get a look at you.”


“What the hell are you talkin’ about?”


“I’m sure that they would want to take a look at the moron who is stupid enough to think that a killer, robber, and a gunman like Reno Stokes wouldn’t rat him out.”


Chapter 17