Chapter 1 | The Ghost of Belle Starr

Shed not for her the bitter tear
Nor give the heart to vain regret,
‘Tis but the casket that lies here,
The gem that fills it sparkles yet.

On a lonely road outside of Eufaula, Myra Belle Shirley, the Bandit Queen, was gunned down in an ambush. It could've been her much younger husband, Jim July, who'd threatened to kill her days earlier. Or her daughter, Pearl, who bore a grudge when Belle interfered with her marriage to the father of her child. Maybe it was her estranged son Ed, and those rumors of an incestuous relationship.

Nothing conclusive. The hanging judge wanted to hang up the Bandit Queen for years, and he finally did. All he could swing was two concurrent six-month sentences. She was a horse thief, cattle rustler, bootlegger. A cohort of Jesse James. Terrorized the Oklahoma Trail for years till somebody got her. We'll never know who.

There's a small crowd gathered on that lonely road outside of Eufaula. I remember the way she stood there, no surprise, the moment she looked straight through the eyes of death. “I'll be waiting for you, Jim,” is all she said.

There's maybe fifteen or twenty witnesses gathered on this now paved stretch. They're not here for Belle Starr, playing with her bottles somewhere in the woods. It's summer, and the Gentle Giant, Lake Eufaula, beckons. The road is straight, but the light flickering through the trees throws the driver. He swerves and flips and flips some more, eventually scraping to a halt.

Must've been doing at least seventy at first, till the friction brought him down. Now the road is blocked, and people are milling about, talking, laughing, clearing a path so the ambulance can get through. It takes a while, it takes too long, and there’s no way that driver’s going to make it. The law’s here, too, asking questions, taking notes, piecing it all back together before darting into the woods after Belle Starr and her bottles.

The Cherokee girl wants to know where Jim is. He disappeared after Belle Starr and wound up dead, but nobody bothered to tell the Cherokee girl. She's wandering lost in the woods, mercifully separated from the ghost of Belle Starr, who's muttering something underneath her breath. Myra Belle doesn't know where Jim is, either, but if she finds him, there'll be what for.

I feel bad not knowing the girl’s name, but she's one of Jim's playthings, and he just calls her the Cherokee girl. Protecting her, I suppose, cause he knows what his woman would do.

Jesse's hiding under a rock, gunning for the law. They’ll meet up, another place and time. The woods are filling up, and it's hard for anybody to find someone, not knowing who they're looking for. Belle Starr’s pitching bottles at the wind, never quite making the mark. Something startles her, so she bails on her reverie and flees, the law hot on her trail.

You can hear the sound of hoof beats in the distance, the Lone Ranger riding off into the moon set. The astronaut hollers to bring back the rocks. He takes a small step and shakes his head, then follows Lone Ranger, running into the woods.

“It's a horse, not a zebra,” says the astronaut. There are lions in the woods outside of Eufaula. They'd take a horse or a zebra, or even a ghost throwing bottles at the wind. It only takes a scent to wake them from their slumber. For now, they lie peaceful, as only lions do. They spring to action when they must.

Jesse hears the sound of twigs breaking. The law? Cherokee girl? Belle Starr? I can't tell in this cacophony of light and shadow. Neither can he, but he's ready like a sleeping lion. Any instant, we might all come crashing upon this spot.

They're loading the body into the ambulance while the cleanup crew cuts a path for whoever’s left to get to the lake. Mostly, everyone's lost in the woods, separated from the rest by fire and fog. We pass through each other without knowing it. There are cars parked alongside the road, abandoned for now as the players converge on a clearing.

First Belle Starr, followed by Jim, who’d already found the Cherokee girl. She looked happy till just now, knowing the what for’s about to hit. She takes a stance as the Bandit Queen can't seem to decide who first. There's Pearl and Ed, busily scribbling their complaints. The Lone Ranger clangs his bell, calling the court to order. A jury forms on the outskirts as everyone waits for the hanging judge. The astronaut is piling his rocks and studying the stars who've gathered. Nobody notices Jesse maneuvering into position as the law, full force, comes raining down. He draws a bead on his target, then stops.

“C’mon, Jess, we're ready to blow through the wall.” He paused an instant, then holstered his gun, disappearing one step ahead of the law.

Belle Starr’s made up her mind, going full bore after Jim with an expletive storm. “I'll kill you myself, old hag!” Jim screams back. Cherokee girl slinks away with her newfound friend and his rocks.

An explosion rocks the woods. “Keep your sneakers dry, boys. Move it on out.” They're passing down sacks of cash, loading up the trucks marked “USA.” Go! Go! Go!

Silence falls over Eufaula as the crowd evaporates back to their cars by the roadside. The ambulance is long gone, all signs of a wreck cleaned up and disappeared.

The hanging judge stands smoking a cigar over the Bandit Queen’s lifeless torso as the law bears down on Jesse's gang two steps ahead. Jim July's at the rendezvous, a new girl on his hip. Soon, he'll be lying face down in the dirt, a pen knife to the back. For now, he paces in anticipation of the rest of the gang. Fresh horses, cash, and bottles of whiskey to be distributed further down the Trail. He glances at his watch, suddenly dawning on him it's a no show. “Damn you, Jesse, I'll get you.” But Jesse's long gone, heading for a place down in Mexico with his trucks marked “USA.” And the law, now three steps behind, has moved on to stopping the wrong M&Ms.

They’re inspecting the cars on the road to Lake Eufaula. You can tell by the stickers who’s got the wrong M&Ms. And if you do, well, you'd best explain and tell us where you got them. Give us some names, we’ll take it from there.

Ysabel holds his hand, and they start to walk. “Where to?” he asks.

“Where do you want to go?”

There's a fire in the distance where the explosion was, and he points to it. “Over there.”

“Kinda far. You up for it?”

“I am if you are.”

“Well all right.”

The sun’s coming up, and the lions are deeply sleeping. Everybody here is long gone. Just two pairs of footsteps walking through the woods, heading through the fire and the fog.