Falling

Arthur Morgan cursed under his breath and hunkered further down over his saddle. Tree branches tugged at his skin as he urged his horse on through the forest. Arthur could hear the Strawberry town lawmen not far behind. Up ahead, off the small trail was a thicket. Arthur cursed silently and steered into the thick underbrush.

"Easy girl."

The young Morgan horse settled at Arthur's calm voice. The lawmen were quickly approaching their hiding spot, but both horse and man stood steady. Arthur quietly withdrew his pistol in preparation. It was unnecessary as the thicket was overlooked as the police rode past them, heading further up the trail. With them out of earshot he let go of the breath he'd been holding. Even with them gone, Arthur did not move or lower his gun for several minutes. He finally deemed it safe and relaxed back in the saddle.

"Fuck. That was too damn close. Fuckin' Micah."

Arthur continued off-trail, heading away from Strawberry and the trouble Micah had caused.

"Killed half the town for his fuckin' guns. God damn idiot. Should have left him to hang."

Scratching at the stubble on his jaw, Arthur weighed his options. He could go back to camp, but it probably wasn't a good idea in case he accidentally dragged trouble back. Best to head off and lie low for a while, a few days at most.

"Come on Rachel, might as well go huntin'"

Arthur kept Rachel at a slow walk and took trails and back roads. The horse had run hard earlier and Arthur didn't want her cooling off too fast and risk her getting ill. Finally, they reached a good campsite far away from any trouble. Arthur dismounted and untied the reins, dropping the lead, ground tying the horse.

"That's my girl."

Arthur didn't hold many things close to his heart, but Rachel was one of them. A palomino Morgan he'd bought in Valentine with nearly every penny he'd had on hand. He hadn't expected much from the young, hardly trained horse, but she had proven herself time and time again. Rachel huffed in his face and Arthur blew back at her.

"Let's get this off you."

Saddle removed, Arthur brushed her down and fed her before setting up his bedroll and campfire. The sun was starting to set and he was simply too tired to hunt tonight. Grabbing some salted meat from his pack, Arthur settled in for the night.

 The sound of Rachel's nervous neighs woke Arthur. He immediately turned over, reached for his gun, and sat up. His pulse picked up in preparation. It could be anything that set the horse off, but Arthur was betting on one of two things; lawmen or a mountain lion. Any police would have trouble finding him this far out. The fire had died down to embers, and no longer a deterrent to a cat. Arthur tossed some sticks and leaves onto the dying flame with one hand, gun steady in the other.

"Please don't be a cat. I'll take a shoot out over a mountain lion any day."

The fire grew but Arthur didn't see any lions, but you never did see them. They saw you first. Rachel was growing antsier and Arthur glanced at her. She would know where the predator was and alert him to the right direction. Only. . . only the palomino was looking up. The trees! Arthur nearly kicked himself for being so stupid, mountain lions were well known to ambush from above. He knelt and aim where Rachel was looking, but there was nothing there.

"Girl, I don't see anything. What's wrong?"

Rachel danced in place and Arthur spotted what had her nearly fleeing. He laughed and put down his gun.

"Easy girl, you're okay. They're just shootin' stars."

Arthur leaned back against his saddle and watched as the tiny pinpricks of light shot across the night sky.

"Just a bunch of rocks burning up in our sky."

He tried to calm his horse ad she started to settle at his voice.

"Good girl. Just some pretty lights."

Only one of those lights was getting bigger and not dissipating. The blaze was getting brighter, almost like having a small sun in the sky. Arthur felt his stomach drop and fear filled him. Surely it wasn't going to hit the ground? There was a roar in the air as it shot overhead of them. Arthur clamped his eyes shut and waited for the impact. And waited, and waited. Finally, there was a far off boom and a slight tremor in the ground. Opening his eyes, Arthur looked around. The meteor hadn't landed on top of him. Actually, from the sound delay, it was probably several miles out. It sure felt closer when it flew overhead. Arthur wondered if it was all in one piece. It'd be interesting to see the meteor.

It was probably worth a lot.

A plan started to form in Arthur's mind. If he could be the first to get to the meteor, he might be able to claim it as his. If it was small enough, he might even be able to take it and sell it. All he had to do was get there first.

Arthur turned to saddle up Rachel. Rachel was gone, having spooked and fled.

"God damn it!"

 It took nearly an hour to find and calm down his spooked horse, and two more to make it to the impact site. Arthur stared in amazement. The creator was about thirty feet across and in the center maybe six feet deep. Trees had been knocked down and caught fire, the dirt tossed up from the blow was hot and ashy. Arthur dismounted and slowly made his way to the meteor. Something crunched under his foot and upon closer inspection, it was some kind of dark blue glass. An uneasy feeling rose in Arthur's gut. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Dutch always said he was impulsive and one day it'd get him in trouble. At the edge of the creator, Rachel snorted and stomped a hoof.

The smoke cleared and Arthur got a good look at the meteor. It. . . it was a sphere that was split in half. The split was perfectly straight, not something that could happen naturally. Inside were what seemed to be some kind of jars made from the strange blue glass, all of them broken. Beneath the broken glass were puddles of sludge. All a dark hue, colors ranging from purple to silver. They boiled in the hot dirt.

This was all very wrong and Arthur. . . Arthur needed to leave. Get back to camp, screw the lawmen. He quickly turned and starting making his way back to Rachel when he kicked something. It was one of the jars, but it was unbroken. Arthur hesitated before getting closer and nudging it with his foot. The light of the small fires around him glinted off something in the jar. Something shiny and black. Something moving. Arthur nudged it again and the jar shook. Whatever was inside began moving more rapidly and before Arthur could decide whether to leave it or not, the jar exploded.

A black tendril shot out and grabbed Arthur's chest and clung onto him. Rachel whinnied and bolted into the forest, leaving Arthur alone to fight.

"Fuck! Shit, get off!"

Arthur grabbed at the squirming black mass, trying desperately to throw it off. The slime stuck to him and to Arthur's horror began to sink into him.

"No no no no!"

Arthur fell back onto the warm ground, clutching at his chest screaming. He could feel it inside him. He could feel it slither into his body. A growl reverberated through him, but it did not come from around him. Arthur shook as he heard it growl in his head.

An overwhelming feeling of hunger took over.